


Another Line That Comes With Age

by SmolTownFangirl



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Abuse, Acholism, Highschool AU, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), Logan is a teacher, M/M, Patton and Logan are married, Roman is a Jock, Roman is a Theater Kid, Roman is fairly popular, Roman is his student, Virgil is his son, Virgil is trans, Virgil is... not ish, not by any characters you like, oof, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-06-06 14:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 36,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15196919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolTownFangirl/pseuds/SmolTownFangirl
Summary: The one thing Roman would regret about highschool is Mr. Sanders Science class.





	1. Chapter One: Princess’s and Dragon Witch’s

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhdjdnabdknsf My first official sanders sides fic!! Ahdjdbaonfd I hope y’all like it! 
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> Mentions of acholism  
> Acholism  
> Implied past abuse.

If there was one thing Roman Princeton would regret about high school, it would be Mr. Sanders science class. It wouldn’t be the one time his voice cracked when he was singing in a play during freshman year. It wouldn’t be the football practice where he’d kicked his coach in the face on accident. It wouldn’t be when the twins had jumped up on stage to hit him while he was a villain during a production. It wouldn’t be slipping and spilling food all over himself in the lunchroom. It wouldn’t be any of those. It would have to be Mr. Sanders science class.

It wasn’t that Mr. Sanders was a bad teacher- the opposite really, Mr. Sanders clearly loved science and he clearly enjoyed teaching. He was a teacher who didn’t play favorites, even if he had them. He was pretty fair and just. Probably one of the better teachers at the school. It was just that Mr. Sanders was objectively terrifying. He was cold, and very monotone, even as he spoke and explained things so thoroughly that everyone would get it. It also didn’t help that Mr. Sanders did not like Roman. At all.

Point blank, if Mr. Sanders had a least favorite student, it was Roman. Just cause Roman and Mr. Sanders son, Virgil, had once gotten into a fist fight in freshman year. Which was obviously Virgil’s fault! Why should he be blamed for Virgil making snide comments about him and losing his temper! Besides, Virgil had thrown the first punch anyway.

Either way, ever since that day, when he made eye contact with Mr. Sanders, he glared at Roman like he was the devil incarnate.

Which is how Roman found himself fidgeting in a seat in front of Mr. Sanders desk with the teacher going over some papers. Mr. Sanders sighed, “Well, Mister Princeton, we have a lot to discuss don’t we?”

Roman nodded but didn’t look up.

“Mister Princeton-“

Roman looked up at the teacher.

“-Your grades in this class are not… sufficient. I recognize that you are in multiple clubs and extracurriculars, but you should not allow those things to get in the way of your education. I believe that you are not doing as good in this class as you could, and a part of me wonders if that has something to do with it. Nevertheless-“

“Mr. Sanders,” Roman interrupted, “I have a high C in this class. I’m passing. I don’t really get what this all is about.”

Mr. Sanders pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up as he spoke, “You only have a C in this class because you are not applying yourself correctly. I believe that you could possibly be an A plus student if you only applied yourself to your work.”

What sucked even more about Mr. Sanders- even more than the blatantly dislike for Roman, even more than the coldness that made Roman freak out- was that he genuinely wanted his students to be better than they could be. That they should be better than what they could afford to be. That pure raw hope that his students would succeed no matter how much he might have disliked them. That really sucked. Because Roman already knew he wasn’t going to succeed either way.

“So what are you suggesting.” Romans voice was tight.

“I’m saying,” Mr. Sanders was clearly frustrated, “That you should consider giving one hundred percent effort in my class.”

“I do give-“

“No, Mister Princeton, you do not.”

Roman was quiet. He wanted to get out of this conversation. He didn’t want to talk to his least favorite teacher about not giving all his effort. He really couldn’t afford to give more effort in any of his classes. He really couldn’t. And he didn’t want to talk about this.

So he opted out, “I hate to cut this short, Mr. Sanders, but I’m thirty minutes late for picking up my younger sisters from school.”

“I see,” Mr. Sanders spoke, a flash of disappointment in his eyes. Roman almost felt bad. Almost. “Well, I suppose I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Please consider what I said.”

Roman nodded, “I will.”

He grabbed his backpack from the ground, waving over his shoulders as he walked out the classroom door. Tia and Luna would be waiting outside of the elementary school by now, he thought to himself as he walked out of the Highschool front doors, making his way across the street to go get to the elementary school. He checked his phone, feeling his body relax a tad at the sight of a text from Annalise saying that she had made it home safely. He shot back a text about picking up the girls. He grinned, spotting the twins- who were talking to a short man with honey brown hair. Behind the man stood Virgil Sanders. Great. He felt the tension come back to his body. He forced a smile as he approached the group.

Luna was the first to notice him, racing up to him, “Ro! Ro! Ro!”

The seven year old giggled as Roman scooped her up, twirling her around, “Princess Lu-Lu! How is her majesty today?”

“I’m good Ro-Ro!”

He placed her down as Tia raced to him. He got down on one knee, “And how is the Princess Tia, head of the guards? Ready to face the dreaded Dragon Witch?”

“Always, Ro-Ro!” Tia cackled at him, and both the twins jumped on him.

He held both of them, one on each side as he turned to the man and Virgil, “Ah, sorry to interpret you guy’s conversation-“

“It’s no problem!” The man spoke chipperly, “I’m Patton Sanders, I’m the girls new teacher while Mrs. Mather is on leave.”

“Oh! Well it’s nice to meet you,” He grinned, “I would shake your hands but I’m kinda holding two lovely princesses.”

His sisters giggled, and Tia spoke up, “Mr. Sanders insisted on waiting with us for you!”

Roman smiles at them, “Did he now?”

He turned back to their teacher, “Thank you for waiting with them, but you really don’t have to.”

Patton grinned, “It’s no problem!”

“Still,” Roman started, “I should probably tell you that this might happen a lot. I usually take them home before I come back and go to clubs, but I’m always late. Some days their older sister Annalise will pick them up- either way, just know that this is kinda a semi-normal, and you don’t have to wait up for them.”

Virgil snorted, “Dad would never ever leave a kid to wait alone, let alone two… princesses.”

The girls giggled at Virgil’s awkward delivery of ‘Princess’ and Roman relaxed a bit, glad Virgil wasn’t going to say something rude in front of his sisters. He didn’t think Virgil would be that awful, but ever since that first fight in freshman year, they had been pretty antagonistic towards each other. Now in Junior year, the whole thing felt a bit silly. They still weren’t friends but as the years had gone on, Roman had stopped thinking that Virgil was going to deck him, instead of just insulting him. He looked at Virgil, no bite in his voice as he spoke, “Well I suppose as long as they have Sir Patton the Kind and Virgil the edgy, then they’re safe.”

Patton chuckled, “Virgil the Edgy! Ah, I love it!”

“Dad,” Virgil groaned.

Romans phone rang, and he didn’t look at it before answering it. Luna and Tia stopped chittering as they looked at Roman.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ro- um- I’m- listen Im-“ Annalise’s voice rang shaky as her breath quivered.

Roman set the two girls down, “Anna, what’s wrong? Can you take a deep breath?”

A shaky breath on the other end of the phone, “Dad's Home. He went to the liquor cabinet.”

Roman tensed, cursing under his breath, he shot an apologetic smile to the Sanders who both looked concerned. He spoke to them, “Hey I’m sorry for cutting this short but me and my sisters have to go.”

He spoke back to Anna, “Stay calm. We can go for ice cream in a bit, Kay?”

They both knew we just meant her and the girls. Anna hung up.

He grinned down at the girls, “Comon Princess’s, time to go home.”

Luna and Tia both grabbed his hand waving at their teacher and their teachers son. He sighed, smiling at the two before stating his farewells to the Sanders. The trio then started on the short walk to their apartment.

Annalise was standing outside the building, her dark hoodie making her stand out in front of the beige bricks of the apartment building. She was fidgeting with a fidget cube, all her focus and energy placed into pressing the buttons on the cube. She looked unscathed, but pretty shaken up. Roman couldn’t blame her. Their dad had been sober for a month, and things had been going fairly well. But relapses did happen. It wasn’t like he was going to start- Roman shook the thought from his head. That was a dark train of thought and he knew he should probably stay away from that.

Roman called out to her as they approached, “Anna, hey.”

“Hey,” Annalise glanced at them, throwing on a bright grin when she saw the twins. Shoving her fidget cube in her black hoodie she got down on her knees, and in a booming voice she spoke, “Oh beautiful Princess’s of Princeton, ‘tis I, The Dreaded Dragon Witch!”

Luna gasped, gripping Romans hand, “Oh no! The dragon witch!”

Tia jolted forward, “Dont worry Lu-Lu! I’ll protect you!”

Annalise surged forward, taking up Tia in her arms, smothering her face in kisses, “Now I’ve got you!”

“No! Unhand me! You witch!” Tia giggled hard under Annalise’s kisses.

Luna let go of Roman, racing towards her twin and her older sister, jumping up to hug Annalise. Annalise let out an ‘oof’ as she shifted Tia towards her hip and grabbed Luna giving her a kiss on the cheek. Roman walked over to them, squeezing Annalise’s shoulder. She grinned at him, “You coming with us for ice cream?”

Roman knew she already knew the answer, but he shook his head anyway, “Nah, but I’ll give you some money.”

Annalise stuck out her hand as the twins pulled on her hair. She didn’t even flinch as she spoke, “Twenty Five. I wanna treat them to something special.”

The twins cheered, and Roman sighed, handing over the money, “Get yourself something too. I’m gonna go up.”

He took the twins backpacks from them and waved goodbye. It always shocked him how much his siblings looked alike. All three of them had their Father’s blond hair, and their mother’s green eyes. It settled fondly on his chest as he thought of how proud his mom would be of her daughters. She would have loved the twins. Roman always felt a bit of pride in his chest- after all, he was the one that raised them to be so kind and caring. They would have loved their mom. He shook the thoughts from his head as he saw them turn the street.

He made his way up the stairs of the apartment, entering his house quietly. He placed all three bags in his room, knowing that if his dad was drinking that all three of his siblings would be staying in there tonight. He heard his dad in the office. He stepped towards it.

“Father.”

“Roman, Get dinner ready. Now.” His father’s voice was like venom, as he spoke, liquor glass in hand. Roman didn’t move, “Are you deaf? I told you to get dinner ready.”

“You’re drinking again.” Roman stated, “You know that you shouldn’t-“

“Does it look like I give a damn about what I should and shouldn’t do, boy?” His father snarled at him, gulping down the amber liquid in his cup, “Get dinner ready. Now.”

Roman nodded. He sent a text to Annalise warning her that their father was going to be drinking tonight, to come home quietly when she brought the girls in, and to bring them to his room immediately. She responded with an ok, and that was that.

He started on dinner, dreading the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter Two: We’re all alone tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton Sanders was a worrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agdjdbskf Two chapters one day ha ha! Just a fair warning I’m writing and posting this from my phone so... mistakes are a probably! Feel free to correct me! 
> 
> Trigger warnings: 
> 
> Anxiety  
> Suspicion of Abuse  
> Mentions of Abuse  
> Mentions of Alcholism

Patton Sanders was a worrier. He always was. He was worried about everything, and anything. He was worried about Logan and how stressed he got during the school year. He was worried about Virgil and the idea that he was being bullied. He was worried about bills, and taxes, and being an adult. He was worried about a lot of things. But as sat on his bed, he was worried about one thing. The two little girls in his class.

Tia and Luna Princeton were bright children. They really were. Bubbly and playful, they had been a joy to take care of and teach. However. The way that Luna had gone quiet when a little boy- Harold, his mind supplied- had yelled, put him on edge. The way Tia has immediately looked around, as if something was going to come for them, just made that edge sharper. As the day wound down what worried him even more was how they talked amongst each other about things that they shouldn’t have to worry about. Stuff like who would make dinner, and if ‘Ro-Ro’ was going to work tonight. The straw that broke him was how after all the kids in the class left the two girls were still waiting at the front of the school, no parents having picked them up.

He had stayed with them, listening to their tale of how amazing and cool their older brother was- how he was a Prince. When Virgil had joined them from the High School the two had bombarded him with questions and asked him if he was royalty- they instigated that he was so pretty he must be royalty, but the black he wore reminded them of the dragon witch so maybe he was dragon royalty! And- and well it had gone on like that. The group waited thirty minutes before someone came to pick them up, a handsome boy with tan skin, brown hair, and green eyes. He introduced himself as Roman Princeton, the girls older brother.

Patton immediately didn’t know what to think. The way Roman handled the twins was with a care that only a parent could have. It was nothing like the overly loud, rude, obnoxious boy, that Virgil raved about his freshman year, and it was certainly not like a person who had no dedication and no charm that Logan had steamed about when he got the boy in the class. He had been.. well… he had been a complete Prince Charming toward both him and Virgil. And the way Virgil blushed around him clued Patton in that there was more to the story than Virgil let on. But Roman hadn’t even payed them much attention, too enamored with his little sisters. It was different than what Patton had thought a kid like Roman Prince could be.

And then he accepted that call. It set warning bells off in Patton’s mind even thinking about it. His face had dropped when he asked the other person if they were okay and all the tension that had slowly being seeping out of his shoulders the entire conversation came back in a rush. Then he had hurried off with his little sisters, keeping tense even as he smiled at them. It was kind of worrying. He sighed.

“Patton, I can hear you thinking from over here,” Logan spoke from his desk, looking at his husband, “Is everything okay?”

“I’m not really sure, Lo,” he spoke softly, “But it’s probably not my place to ask questions unless questions need to be asked, you know?”

“I suppose.” Logan’s voice was soft, “Tell me what’s on your mind anyway.”

“I ran into Roman Princeton today when he came to pick up his sisters…” He trailed off.

Logan looked up, eyes curious. Patton ran through the interaction with him and ran through his thoughts and worries. By the end of it, Logan still had a curious look on his face when he spoke, “Well, a student and a person should be valued at two different things. I’m not surprised that outside of class Roman is a bright, charming kid, so that probably clears that away. As for your concerns… I genuinely think that you have a right to be concerned, however I don’t think that the cause for concern is the main thing you should be focusing on at this moment. Today was your first day, you’re bound to notice things that might seem unordinary to us that are perfectly ordinary to other people. Perhaps the call was a family emergency or something. Either way, I don’t think that the cause for concern is as big as you might feel it is right now.”

Patton relaxed under Logan’s logical explanation of things, “Keep a close eye on him. I still have a bad feeling.”

“I will, Patton,” Logan smiled at his husband, “I keep a close eye on all my students.”

Patton grinned at him, walking over to his desk to peck his cheek, “Speaking of students, I got a question for our little student.”

Logan raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as Patton made his way out of the door and towards Virgil’s room. Music was blasting through the door, some old MCR song that Patton didn’t mind that much. He opened the door smiling at Virgil who was dancing along to the music, singing the lyrics, “Hide your body when the sunlight dies, everybody hide your body from the scarecrow! Everybody hide!”

He cleared his throat, loud enough to catch Virgil’s attention. He paused the music, a blush on his cheeks, “Um… sup dad?”

Patton walked into the room, closing the door behind him, “Can we talk about something? Father to son?”

“Sure,” Virgil bit his lip, sitting down on the bed.

“So…” Patton dragged out the o, “How long have you had a crush on Roman Princeton?”

Virgil jolted up the blush returning to his cheeks in full force, “I do not have a crush on Roman Princeton!”

“Whatever you say kiddo,” Patton raised an eyebrow at him, “I just find it rather strange how hard you blushed today when he called you Virgil the Edgy.”

“I did not blush!”

“Yes, yes you did, I could see it through your  concealer.”

Virgil spluttered, “Oh my god!”

Patton laughed at his son, smiling good naturedly, “I just wanted to make sure your okay. I know that you and Roman aren’t exactly… friends.”

“We’re not exactly not friends either,” Virgil looked away from his dad, “It’s- it’s weird. When I was getting beat up daily last year, he came to my rescue more than once- but then he himself would tease me. But it wasn’t like an insult it was like a playful thing and it was weird! He also like- he knows me pretty well! He knows my favorite songs and he makes fun of me for them, but he still knows them! And then- it’s just- it’s strange. Because he knows when days aren’t good, and he won’t say anything on those days but he’s also not afraid to make fun of me when I’m being awful and it’s- it’s just a weird situation.”

Patton looked a Virgil, “I’m pretty sure that you- and your father- both misjudged him at first.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Patton could tell his son wanted to drop the subject of Roman Princeton, so he changed topics, “Anyway, the other thing I needed to talk to you about is what you and I should get Lo for his birthday.”

Virgil looked at his Dad, “Why don’t we just make him a mug?”

“That’s a great idea! We can go to that pottery place- the one where you can paint them- and make him something.” Patton spoke with his hands excited to make his husband something nice, “We can go tomorrow after school.”

Virgil nodded and let his Dad ramble a bit about all the cool ideas and designs that he wanted to make for Pa. He kind of loved the fact that his parents were both madly in love with each other. The way they looked at each other, you could tell they were crazy about each other. Virgil kinda longed for that. For someone to be crazy about him the way his Dad and Pa were crazy for each other. His parents had been married since they were nineteen, and they were still just as in love now as they were them. He had to admit it took him a bit to be able to see it, but his Pa was extremely in love with his Dad and it was always heartwarming for him to see his stoic Pa warm up when he wa around Dad. His dad turned to him.

“Hey buddy, it’s getting kinda late,” Dads voice was soft, and filled with love, “you should be getting to bed.”

He grinned at his father, “Course. Night Dad. Love you.”

“Love you too,” His father left the room, turning off the light and shutting the door behind him.

Virgil stared up at the glow in the dark stars he had plastered to his ceiling when he was ten. His thoughts trailed back to a certain brunette. An anxious feeling tugged at his gut and he sat up, looking out the window. Something had been up with Roman. For a long time. He had noticed the bruises Roman had come to school with, and how tired he had been. He and Roman shares two classes, so it wasn’t like he was purposely looking out for him. Looking to make sure he was okay. It definitely wasn’t like he had spent countless nights worrying over the fact that Roman constantly looked like he hadn’t slept in years. And it certainly wasn’t like he had thought about what could be causing Roman to be so stiff with everything. Even their banter had seemed to be a chore for Roman. It kind of worried him more than he was willing to admit. To anyone.

But today had been nice. Roman looked so happy with his little sisters. The grins he had given the both of them made Virgil feel warm. Relaxed. Because Roman was pretty relaxing when he was just being Roman. When he was smiling and laughing and playing with his sisters. That brief interaction he’d had with them had solidified the fact in Virgil’s mind that when Roman was happy, he was the cutest boy in the world. He had such a warm laugh when talking to his siblings. It was so… nice. Roman was nice. Sometimes.

He layed back down, tracing the constellations on his ceiling as he thought about the world around him. About Roman. About his the anxiety that had been building up recently. About everything. He stayed awake wondering about the world.

 

Twenty minutes away, in an apartment building, Roman was laying down his baby sisters in his bed. Both of them were exhausted after a day of playing in the park and make believe in Romans room. He hummed the last few notes of a lullaby his mom taught him as he tucked the small girls in. When he was sure they were sleeping he turned to Annalise, who was looking at him from the floor.

“He hit you again.” Her voice was soft and eyes on the edge of watering as they started at the newly forming black eye on her brothers face.

Roman sat down next to her, “Yeah. He did. I’m just glad you guys weren’t around to see it.”

“He shouldn’t have hit you at all.”

“I know, Anna,” he whispered to her, “I know.”

“It’s not fair.” She was crying now, soft sniffles leaving her.

“You’re right. It’s not,” his breath was shaky as he hugged his little sister, “But I’m a Prince. And princes are brave enough to deal with any monster.”

“You shouldn’t have to be brave enough. He shouldn’t have hit you and he shouldn’t be drinking.”

Her voice was tight. Her words a kind of final. The room fell silent, the only sound was the twins soft snoring. Annalise turned to him, “So. The twins mentioned a Virgil..?”

She was grinning, an obvious attempt at making the air a little lighter. Roman felt his cheeks warm. It was strange.

“He’s no one important, I promise.”

Annalise rolled her eyes, “You’re blushing, Ro.”

Roman closed his eyes leaning back on the bed. Yeah. He was blushing wasn’t he? He looked back at his sister, “You should go to bed.”

“Are you going to stay up and wait for dad to get home from the bar?” Annalise’s voice returned to the tightness it had left from.

Roman nodded, and she continued, “Can I stay up with you?”

“Nah, you know the twins need their Dragon Witch to keep them safe.” He forced a grin, “So just go to bed, Anna.”

She huffed but complied, crawling up onto Romans bed and curling up around the twins. Roman smiles at them, stepping out of the room.

He waited at the kitchen table, doing his science homework. As he worked he thought about things. About Annalise. About Tia and Luna. About stories. About Virgil. About all the bad things that had been building up. About everything. He stayed awake dreading when his father would return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y’all enjoyed!


	3. Chapter Three: Panic! At the front of the school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil Sanders felt his hands shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof this was a doozy! I promise next chapter we’ll get Virgil and Roman interacting a little more, plus Virgil’s social status and Romans explained a bit. 
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> Implied Physical abuse  
> Implied emotional neglect.

Virgil Sanders felt his hands shake. It was a bad day. He didn’t really know what made it such a bad day but he knew it was a bad day. He’d known it was a bad day since the moment he woke up. His stomach made itself up in knots and he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He didn’t take a shower, he didn’t put on makeup, and he didn’t even eat breakfast it was such a bad day. He had canceled the pottery with his dad. He knew school was going to drain him of all his energy. But he also wanted to go to school. On days like this it was better to have some sort of task in front of him. Just to ground him to reality.

But his hands were shaking as he stood in front of the school on the cold winters morning. He realized that it was winter now. It was winter now. The cold bit into his hands, and for a moment he was grateful for the stinging sensation the wind brought on. He glanced around, noticing people still out and talking, yet not going into the school. He scanned over them, the feeling of a lurking danger erupting across his skin. He didn’t feel safe. He needed out. He needed out. He needed to get out of here. He needed to leave. He needed a way out.

Roman Princeton walked up next to him, “Hey Dark and Stormy? You’re shaking really badly. Do you want me to take you to your father’s room?”

He jumped, turning to look at Roman. His eyes widened even farther, taking in Roman’s black eye and split lip. Oh my god that looked fucking painful. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached up pressing a few fingers to Roman’s black eye. Roman didn’t even flinch, just looked down at the shorter boy in concern. Virgil moved his hand, “I- um, no I’m- Princey what, what happened?”

“Nothing you need to worry about, Lord edgy,” Roman’s voice was calm and soft, the same tone he spoke to his sisters in, “But I think you should go to the nurse or your dad's room. You’re not breathing properly. Can you take a deep breath?”

Virgil nodded, taking a deep breath and holding for five seconds before releasing. He was still shaking and his head felt light. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like the panic sinking into his skin. He wanted to scream or yell or cry. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he looked around. People were looking at them, staring at Romans Black eye and busted lip and- and some of them were looking at Virgil like he was the one who did it. Virgil sank into himself.

“Okay, storm cloud, I’m gonna take you to your dad's room. Can I touch you or is that a no go?”

Virgil spoke, his voice breaking in panic, “You- you can.”

Roman’s arm wrapped around his shoulder as Virgil leaned on him. Roman was warm. He was really warm. It was grounding and suddenly Virgil was so thankful that Roman had stopped to help him. He was shaking like a leaf in Romans hold, but he was at least grounded to what was happening now, because of the simple touch. Roman was walking them forward, gently pulling Virgil with him as Virgil tried to calm his breathing down. He was trying to breath. He was trying to be calm. He was. He was. By the time the duo had made it to his Pa’s classroom Virgil was breathing normally. The shaking however only got worse, and he wanted to snap at anything, something, everything he didn’t know. He just knew he was feeling awful and that he had no control over it not this time.

His Pa looked up from his desk when they entered, wide eyes taking in the sight before him. He stood, rushing over to his son, “Virgil, are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“No, Pa,” Virgil pushed off of Roman, “I’m, I just, I started panicking and I couldn’t stop.”

His father nodded, “You can stay in here til class starts. Put in your headphones, and focus on the music, okay? And count your breaths, alright?”

Virgil nodded, stumbling over to his father's desk. He grabbed the fidget cube his father used when he got restless and started playing with it once he put his headphones in. The sinking feeling got worse but at least he was breathing properly. At least he was breathing properly.

Roman turned to Mr. Sanders, “I saw him at the front of the school- he looked like he was on the edge of a panic attack.”

“You did the right thing by bringing him here,” Mr. Sanders looked at Roman with curiousity, “What happened?”

“I don’t know why he was panicking to be honest.”

“Not that. What happened to your face?” He asked.

Roman tensed, words leaving him for a moment. It’d been awhile since he showed up with a bruise, he didn’t really know what to say. Especially because these ones were extremely visible, and not just something he could brush off. But still, he didn’t really wanna lie, “I got in a fight with someone.”

“Who? And why?” Mr. Sanders voice portrayed more concern than Roman was used to getting. He frowned.

“Just somebody that I don’t really know all that well. He was talking trash about my sister.”

Mr. Sanders looked like he didn’t buy it, but nodded and Roman felt slightly relieved. He didn’t like questions and he sure as hell didn’t like answering them. He turned to leave, waving bye at Virgil and Mr. Sanders. Mr. Sanders watched him leave with curiosity in his face.

Logan turned to his son, “Are you alright, Virgil?”

Virgil nodded. Silence over took the duo as Virgil focused on his music and Logan sat thinking. It was rather peculiar to him that Roman Princeton had taken time to help Virgil. Logically, Roman wasn’t a bad kid. But ever since he had gotten called into Ryan’s office saying that Virgil had gotten into a fist fight with some freshman, he had a certain dislike for the kid. When Roman had gotten assigned to his class- his eighth period class! The one class he had every day!- he had complained to Patton for two days. He didn’t want someone who had hurt his kid in his class. When he had first started the class Roman had come in, with his head down a grin fading from his face as he looked at his new teacher, Logan had thought that it was strange.

He didn’t seem like the kind of person to let anything affect him at all, let alone a teacher. What had surprised Logan even more was the healing black eye. He had known for a long time that Roman wouldn’t shy away from a fight, it seemed weird to him that he would fight during the summer months. What he found within the first week was that Roman was a deeply spirited young man. He was, as Virgil would say, extra. And it showed in everything he did. He was an amazingly curious student, who was extremely clever. He always made high scores on his tests. Which is why Logan had found it strange that he maintained a C average in the class. He wasn’t cheating on tests- Roman wouldn’t have risked getting kicked off the football team nor would he have risked getting kicked off the play. So the only logical explanation was that Roman wasn’t actually putting in effort.

However it was strange. Despite everything Roman seemed to foster some kind of… care for his son. This wasn’t the first time this year Roman had brought Virgil to his class room whenever he had a bad day. It made him wonder about a lot of things.  He sighed, turning back to his desk. He looked at his son, “Virgil, it’s almost time for class. Do you want to go or go to the nurse?”

“I can go to class,” Virgil’s voice was still on edge but it was way calmer than what it had been when he first came to his father’s room. He walked out of the room, giving his father a small goodbye.

Logan sat at his desk, grateful once again that first period was his meeting period. This gave him extra time to plan things. To make sure of things. He went over some papers of his students, combing over their errors and what he needed to improve on when he taught them. It was kind of relaxing if he was honest. Most of his coworkers found grading papers boring and tedious, but Logan always found the task relaxing if he was grading papers while working. The bell rang and students flooded the hallways rushing to get to class. Logan huffed, zoning back into his work. He graded six more papers before a fleeting image at the top of his eyes caught his attentions.

A girl was standing outside of his classroom, a dazed look on her face, as she looked aroundthe hallway. She looked way too young to be in highschool, warning bells rung in his mind. He stepped away from his desk, walking towards her, “Excuse me miss, are you lost?”

She jumped, stumbling back as she turned towards him. She seemed to sag in relief when it was just him, “Oh- um. I was, um, my brother left- he uh, he left his bag at home.”

“I see,” Logan said, “However I have to ask you why aren’t you in school?”

“Oh, um,” she seemed to stumble over her words, “it’s not- it’s not cause I’m ditching I’m uh- I uh-“

“You’re ditching your classes aren’t you?”

She coughed for a moment before nodding, “Yeah. Besides I really need to get this to my brother, he has practice today..”

“Alright, I cannot allow you to continue to skip.” Logan told her, “However I will help you locate your brother in order to give him the bag.”

“He has first period off, so I really don’t know where he would be.”

“Well it would help if I knew your brothers name.”

“Oh! Roman Princeton, I’m-“

“Annalise Eliza Princeton, why are you not in school right now?” Roman’s voice boomed as he made his was to the duo, a frown on his face.

Logan jumped, looking at Roman who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. What was it with that boy and just.. appearing? Nevertheless, Logan turned to him, “Ah, Mister Princeton. It seems your sister has something to give you.”

“What is it?” He was looking at Annalise when he spoke, “I won’t allow you to miss school Anna, especially not just cause I left something at home.”

Annalise grumbled, but handed him a shabby backpack that looked like it had been used for years, “You left your bag, Ro.”

She coughed again, this time sounding a little worse. Roman frowned hard, stepping towards her, placing a hand on her back as she coughed. His concern showed on his face, “You Alright?” 

“Yeah,” Annalise mumbled, “By the way you should thank me for bringing your bag- and making breakfest this morning.” 

“Thank you. Now are you going to go to school or do I need to escort you there myself?”

“No need, Ro,” She said, rolling her eyes, “I can do it myself. I’m on twin duty today right?”

Roman snorted, “You act like you don’t enjoy spending time with them.”

“I never said that.” She grinned at him, “See ya, Ro. Goodbye sir.”

Roman watched her leave with a frown on his face, before he turned to Logan, “Mr. Sanders, I gotta apologize for her. She doesn’t normally skip school.”

“It’s no problem.”

With that the conversation was over, and Roman headed down to the library. Logan stayed where he was, looking back to where the girl- Annalise- had left. He frowned. The way those two talked… it made it seem like Roman was the primary caregiver in his household. He shook the thought out of his head. He had papers to grade.


	4. Chapter Four: Kid and Dark and Emo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil stood at the back entrance at the school, hands shaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF I HATE THIS CHAPTER BUT JUST LIW KEY 
> 
> Yeah it’s Virgil centric, and in other news I have no idea how to write anxiety if it’s not my specific type (aka if it’s not expressed like I express mine I’m pretty bad at it lol) 
> 
> Oh also! I wanna clarify the characters heights, so Roman is the tallest, he’s around 6’5, Logan is second tallest around 6’4 and Patton is about 5’11, Virgil is the shortest and has already hit his last growth spurt so he’s stuck standing at 5’7. Annalise is 5’2 and the twins are lil babies so they rlly short. Kylee in this chapter is the same height as Annalise. (Romans Mom was 5’0 and Romans dad is 6’6) 
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
> Implied Abuse   
> Implied past abuse   
> Implied Alcholism   
> Implied illness   
> Implied Racism   
> Implied Xenophobia

Virgil stood at the back entrance of the school building, hands shaking. He thought he could go to class after the morning he had but the second he stepped foot into Mrs. Ornellas’s English class he had needed to bolt. So he did. He bolted, but instead of going to his father's class or the nurses office he just. Left. He left the building, feeling dejected and cold and anxious. Logically he knew that the fear of getting caught would make him more anxious but he needed some fresh air. Some breathing air. 

He took a breath of the cold morning air. Now that they entirety of the school grounds were clear- all the students either in class or the library or the Commons- it was peaceful. He felt his shoulders relax as he sat against a brick wall. He leaned his head back resting against the wall. For the first time in a long time he was glad that it was almost winter. Almost winter meant that snow would come and snow was the most calming thing in the world. Winter itself usually was bad though. It only got good when snow started to hit. He shivered, a cold gust of wind racing against his face. 

A cough sounded and Virgil jumped turning to the corner of the school where someone was hacking up a lung. A short girl stood with her back towards Virgil, coughing really badly. One of her hands was braced against the brick wall and she looked on the verge of collapsing. Virgil swallowed down the lump in his throat, “Yo, you okay?”

The girl startled and turned to him, making the cough come back about three times worse. After about a minute the coughing had slowed down and she spoke, “Yeah. I think.”

“You should probably go to the nurse,” he said to her, rubbing the back of his neck. He had no idea what to say to help her. 

She snorted, “Bold of you to assume I go to highschool when I currently look like a tall goblin on crack.” 

“Damn,” Virgil chuckled, “Descriptive. So if you don’t go to highschool why are you currently at the Highschool?”

“I took my brother his football bag,” she said. She bit her lip, but decided to speak her mind, “And I’m not willing to go back to the middle school cause of Christian Fly and his gang of assholes.”

Virgil sat down, once again leaning against the wall. He motioned for her to join him, “Tell me about it, if you want.”

She looked at him weird, but he just shrugged, “I’m not to… keen… on going back to class either.” 

“How bout this,” she turned away from him, looking to the playground of the elementary school, “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours?” 

At his nod, she began to speak, “Christian Fly is the most racist, homophobic, ignorant, bitch in the entirety of eighth grade. And that’s saying a fucking lot considering it’s eighth fucking grade and everyone is awful.” 

Virgil snorted as she continued, “He found out my Mom was Cuban and my brothers gay. Every single fucking day since he found out he’s been asking me if I’m illegal- which doesn’t make sense because I was born here- and he’s been saying I’m gonna get deported. I refuse to say the things he’s said about my brother. Ever. But he’s been harassing me since then.” 

“Does your mom know?” He glanced at her, “Does your brother.” 

“Moms dead. She’s been dead seven years. If I tell my brother that some piece of shit is harassing me at school he will literally storm in there and beat the shit out of the kid. I can’t- he can’t do that. That gets people in trouble.” 

“Kid, you gotta tell someone.” 

“Nope. Besides, time for you to hold up your end of the deal.” 

Virgil sighed, “I’ve got anxiety. Bad anxiety. Makes it hard to function on a day to day bases and some days it’s worse than others. I can barley function today. I just… I needed to duck out. To get out of there. I just- I took one look at my first period teacher and needed to leave. Which kinda sucks.” 

He hesitated. But he kinda figured that he wouldn’t ever see this kid again, “It really sucks. My crush had- um- noticed that I had been panicking this morning and after I had calmed down I had felt kinda brave. I mean, Rom- my crush!- is the bravest guy I know. And he had helped me and for a moment I thought that maybe some of his bravery had rubbed off on me. But then I looked at my teacher and she glared at me and it all came crashing down. I bolted. So I’m probably not going to class today.”

“Well,” she smiled, something bitter in her voice, “Here's to not going to class.”

“Here’s to not going to class.” 

They say in silence for a bit, Virgil’s eyes glued on the playground. His Dad was out watching his second grade class at recess, and Virgil was just hoping that he couldn’t see him from there. Course his parents would understand, but it didn’t mean that they were happy with it. Both of them understood the importance of going to school. He felt the anxiety bubble at his chest again but pushed it down.

The girl sighed, turning to Virgil, “You know what fucking sucks?” 

“What?” He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. 

“The fact that my younger sisters only have me and my brother to take care of them. They’ve never had a mom, their entire life their dad has been a drunk that beats up their older brother- their fucking hero!- in order to make sure no one else gets hurt.” She spat out each word like it tasted like venom, “What’s even worse is that my brother can’t even go to college. He’s gonna be to busy trying to get us out of my dad's place.” 

“Holy shit,” Virgil said, his voice shaking a bit, “That sucks. That sucks so hard.”

Virgil didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t know the girl well enough to comfort her but he couldn’t just let her admit something like that and let her suffer alone. He swallowed his anxiety for a moment, “I was in the foster care system until I was about eight. I don’t really remember much. But I remember one thing as clear as day. My second foster family. God they were fucking awful. The mother was an alcoholic who thought it was funny to hit her children. The father was always away and when he wasn’t away he was drinking. God they were awful. But it got better you know. It always does.”

The girl nodded, “Thank you. I think I needed that.”

“What do you mean?” 

“My brother is always saying that things will be okay eventually, but he never really says that it will get better. That our dad could sober up, or we could move out, or- Well I don’t know. I don’t really know how it could get better. But I just kinda needed someone saying that it could be better.” 

She looked over at him, her green eyes warm for the first time since she saw him, “I’m gonna go home for a bit. See ya, Dark and Emo.” 

“See ya, kid,” he trailed off as he watched her walk away. 

His stomach turned as he thought about what she just said. No one deserved to go through that. No one. He wondered to himself whether or not he should tell anyone. A part of him- the part that was smarter than the other pads of him- was screaming at him to go tell a counselor about what he had just learned. A bigger part of him new that telling a counselor would most likely end up a mess with the siblings separated. Plus… he didn’t know her name. He couldn’t find her again, and he didn’t know her name. Wasn’t that just peachy? 

A foot came slammed next to his head and he jumped in a sort of terror, ready to deck the person or run depending on who it was. He looked up, locking eyes with Kylee Seaman’s hateful brown eyes.

“What the fuck did you do to Roman?!” She growled.  

He blinked, “What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“You gave him a black fucking eye didn’t you,” she spat at him, “and a fucking split lip.” 

“What the hell?!” He stood up, looking down at her in shock, “I didn’t do anything to Roman!” 

Kylee stepped back. Her whole body relaxed, her eyes becoming less angry and more.. concerned. She looked up at him, “Wait so- but everyone’s- everyone’s been saying that you two got in a fight! And then when you didn’t show up for first period everyone assumed Roman had taken you out back to beat you up- but- what-“ 

“Do you even know Roman?” He glared at her, “He would literally never do that! That’s not something he would do!” 

Kyle sighed, she leaned towards the wall, “That’s What I thought- but to be honest… he hasn’t been coming to play rehearsal and he’s been skipping football practice. I practically don’t know who he is anymore.” 

“Well he isn’t like that. He never was and never would be.” 

“What like you know him that well?!” 

“Apperantly better than you if you think that!”

“Oh fuck you Sanders!”

Virgil wanted to run. But he wasn’t willing to leave and have Kylee think she won. He stayed silent for a moment before speaking, “Why the hell would I be the one to get in a fight with Roman Princeton.”

“I don’t know,” she exclaimed, exasperated, “Maybe because you two hate each other more than anything in the world?” 

“I don’t hate Roman- why the hell would anyone think that?” He questioned, running a hand through his hair. 

Kylee shifted, “I don’t know- I just- it’s more like what everyone expects you to be I guess. Romans kinda the height of the social ladder and your kind of the bottom.”

“Great to know that everyone expects me to be evil and rude and nasty.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. This conversation was getting nowhere and he really didn’t want to continue it. He didn’t particularly like getting insulted to his face. Kylee broke the silence.

“Someone is hurting Roman, aren’t they?” 

Virgil glanced towards her, tension in his body, “Yeah. I'm starting to think that.” 


	5. Chapter Five: Only Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By lunchtime Roman’s Head was pounding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF YALL 
> 
> trigger warnings:  
> Implied Abuse  
> Implied Bullying  
> Implied Harrasment

By lunchtime, Roman’s head was pounding. Coming to school with a fresh beating was a horrible idea and he enjoy it now. It hurt to move his arms past a certain point. What Roman found even worse than the pain in his body though, was the fact that he hadn’t seen Virgil all day. He was kinda worried about the emo, after the attack he had at the front of the school. But Virgil hadn’t shown up at their second period class, and he wasn’t near the calfateria by lunch time. Roman swallowed down the unease in his stomach, flashing a grin at his buddy Nick, “Sup dude?”

“Nothin much,” Nick grinned at him, scooting over the make room for him, “Just talkin about girls. Nothing you’d be interested in.”

“You’re damn right.” Roman snorted, as his friends broke into laughter.

The football team had been the first people to accept him when he came out as gay. Much to the shock of the more conservative students at the school, his team had actually tried to set him up on a date with Simon Spier- a pretty little guy in the drama club, who was nice enough, but a bit to peppy for Romans type. The drama kids of course had immediately accepted him into their ranks, all clammering excitedly about the openly gay kid on the football team, exclaiming about how this was awesome. Roman didn’t really get it to be honest, but whatever floats their boats.

But that had been a year ago, and now the two activities Roman was most involved in merged together like glue. Simon Spier has actually started dating the wide receiver, Bram Greenfield. Funny how things worked out like that. Either way, the group sat at the middle lunch table, giving them a pretty good view of everyone in the room. He glanced around eyes trying to find Virgil amongst the crowd, but no purple fringe was in sight. He frowned.  

Nick turned to him, “Yo, man, what’s with the long face?”

“Nothing,” Roman didn’t look at him, still looking for Virgil’s trademark color, “Just… looking for someone…”

“Who?” Simon asked, trying to steal Brams fries.

“Virgil Sanders.”

The entire table went quiet, exchanging odd looks. Roman raised an eyebrow, “What?”

Nick exchanged glances with Bram, but it was Carter that spoke up, “It’s just that. You hate Virgil sanders? Why are you looking for him- like we get that he jumped you and gave you a black eye but you already took care of that this morning right? No need to overdue it Rom-“

“Okay,” Romans voice grew loud, “First of all! I don’t hate Virgil! I never have! Second of all- what- what the fuck are you talking about? Virgil didn’t jump me! And this morning he was having a PANIC ATTACK! I helped him! What the fuck!”

“Listen,” Kylee started, “I had a small run in with Virgil- I know! We know you’d never do that- right guys?”

No one spoke.

“Clearly you don’t! And what do you mean you had a run in with Virgil?!”

Romans voice grew louder and louder as he spoke, confused looks on all of his friends faces. Kylee has the gall to look guilty at least as she sunk down in her seat. Nick frowned, “We just thought tha-“

“What?! You thought I’d just attack someone if I got into a fight with them?! You thought that I’d beat someone up behind the school?! You thought I hate Virgil Sanders?!”

By this point the entire cafeteria was looking at him, all eyes staring at him as he grew angrier and angrier. The worst part is no one was disagreeing with what he said. That stung. He didn’t realize that his friends thought that low of him. He stood up, lunch tray forgotten. He opened his mouth to speak to his friends but he just shook his head. Anger ran through his veins as he walked through the cafeteria.

He was buzzing. He was angry. He was horrified. Is that what people thought of him? What everyone thought of him? That’d he’d harass someone just because they did something to him? He wasn’t like that! He never would be! Yes he could be a little too much sometimes, but he would never ever ever dream of hurting someone like that. He knew what it was like to be bullied and he refused to become a bully. Did other people think of him as a bully? Did Virgil? He wanted to scream. He kinda wanted to cry. His entire body hurt and now he wasn’t even sure if his friends knew him. If anyone did.

He stormed to the performing arts wing of the school, making his way towards the theater class that had a hallway to the auditorium connected to it. He nodded towards Ms. Hunter, who seemed to pick up on his mood and didn’t say anything to him. He stepped onto the stage looking at the empty seats around him. He glared, thwumping his body down onto the hard floor, ready to perform a song for no one. His chest hurt from the fall, but honestly he kinda wanted that sting. He kind of wanted that pain. The songs from the musical he chose always started off slow and became more and more angry as the character sang them. He felt like that was an accurate representation of him right at that moment. He sang his heart out, dancing to an invisible tempo as he remembered the moves the characters did.

His head was pounding five times harder by the time he finished. He kind of wanted to cry. So he did. He leaned up against the wall with the curteens and he cried, vicious and hard and shaking his body. He cried for his little sisters. For Annalise who had to grow up so so soon after the death of their mom. Who dealt with so much and still put on a strong suit for him and the twins. He cried for the twins and their innocence that he so badly wanted to protect. He cried for his mom. He cried for his dad. He cried for his friends and the fact that they all thought him something he wasn’t.

He cried for Virgil.

He hadn’t even realized someone had come in until strong arms wrapped around him. He leaned into the touch, so glad for the comfort he didn’t stop to question who it was. He didn’t really care. The scent of pine invaded him and made him feel so safe as he bawled into the black and purple jacket of the stranger. His hands shook as he gripped the persons jacket as he tried so hard to be put together. He couldn’t.

He couldn’t deal with the idea that the people around him thought he was a nasty awful bully. He couldn’t deal with his drunkard father.  He couldn’t deal with his poor baby little sisters who deserved so much more than what he could give them. He couldn’t deal with any of it. He couldn’t put himself together. He couldn’t be happy or calm or excitable with the knowledge that people thought he was so awful that they thought it’d be possible that he’d jump someone!

The stranger rubbed soothing circles on his back and he slowly realized that it wasn’t a stranger. Virgil was holding him, telling him things would be okay as Roman cried. He hiccuped, “I'm- g’d- I’m s’ s’rry Virgil.”

“Princey,” Virgil’s voice was soft, and his hands hadn’t stopped their calming motions, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Why are you sorry?”

“Every’ne’s sayin’ that I bully y’u,” he breaths out still sobbing, “I d’n’t mean t’ I swear.”

Virgil’s voice was so kind, “You listen to me right now Roman Sanders, you have never once bullied me. As rude and mean as you can be you’re also one of the best people I know on this earth. You’re not a bully and you’re not bad. You’ve got nothing to be sorry. And if you do then I accept your apology.”

Romans entire body shuddered at Virgil’s words. He relaxed under Virgil’s touch as he kept repeating the same lines to him. It was so soothing. It was so nice. He hated the fact that people thought he would ever hurt someone like that just because they hurt him. Maybe a few years ago when he was meaner and angrier. But now? He could never- he would never! He inhaled a shuttering gulp.

“You’re okay Roman. It’s gonna be okay. I know you’re not like that.”  

That broke him again. Virgil, antagonistic, rude, cautious, anxious, kind, amazing, Virgil knew he wasn’t like that. Knew that Roman would never be like that. Could never be like that. He cried, loud and ugly. It was so nice. Virgil was so nice. He didn’t realize people could be that nice. It was so nice knowing that if all the world thought of him something he wasn’t at least he had one person that knew what Roman was like.

His sobs quieted down again, and he pulled away from Virgil’s embrace, wiping his tears away, “God I’m sorry.”

“Hey now,” Virgil raised an eyebrow, “We just went over this, sing-a-lot, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

Roman smiled a bit, “Not for that stuff, Virgil, I’m sorry for crying on you like this.”

“Let it out, dude, it’s good for you.”

“Nah,”

Virgil gave him a look, “Nah what?”

“Nah it’s not good for me,” Roman flashed a smile, “I gotta be strong.”

“You don’t always have to be strong, Roman.”

Roman did look at him, hanging his head as he spoke, “You’re wrong. I have to be strong. I’ve had to be strong ever since my mom died. I have to be strong for the twins and for Annalise and for my family. I have to be strong enough to carry the team to state. I have to be good enough to be the lead of the play. I have to be good enough. I have to be. It’s not an option for me, to have negative emotions. To be upset. I’m a prince to my younger siblings and I need to be a prince for them. I have to be good enough. I need to be.”

“You’re already good enough for them. I saw the way you treated those girls, you were so amazing with them. You’re amazing at football and you’re an amazing actor, and what’s more than that you don’t need those things to be good enough. I happen to think you’re good enough the way you are.” Virgil said a seriousness in his voice.

A strange silence passed between them. It was quiet and hesitant. A kind silence. Roman looked at Virgil and Virgil looked at Roman and they sat there studying each other’s eyes. Romans thoughts raced. What was this. What was this. This subtle friendship that they had been building up through the years. This was the peak of it wasn’t it? This moment was going to define it. Maybe it was more than something subtle. Maybe they would be best friends.

Maybe they would be more.

Virgil wanted to break the silence. Needed too. Despite the weakness of the silence, it was still silence and it made him think. Made him think of Roman and his tears. How Roman had just told him something that he didn’t think Roman Princeton could go through. How Roman had just spilt his heart out to him.  Maybe there was much more to Roman than he knew. He suddenly understood something. He needed to know Roman. He stood, breaking the moment. He reached out his hand.

“You wanna go have an adventure, Princey?”

Roman grabbed onto his hand.

“Always.”


	6. Chapter six: Foxy’s cafe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman grinned at Virgil as he dragged him away from the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really fun to write tbh! But be prepared because next chapter is Roman centric!! 
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
> Implied Abuse  
> Implied Alcholism  
> Abuse  
> Homophobia

Roman grinned at Virgil as he dragged him away from the school. Both boys were out of breath and giggling madly for some reason as they passed where the security guard slept during lunch. Their laughter increased as they past the front gate, entering the realm of freedom as they ran away from the High School. They ran past the Elementary school, and down the street. By the time the two strolled for a walk they were wheezing. Neither really knew what there were laughing about, only that it was probably the funniest damn thing they had ever experienced. 

Roman turned to Virgil, catching his breath, “Where to, Panic at the everywhere?” 

“Food.” 

“That’s not a place, Emo-ticon.”

“Fine,” Virgil huffed, dragging out the ‘i’, “Have you ever been to Foxys Cafe?”

At Romans shake of the head Virgil continued, “It’s an amazing little place.. six blocks from here? Just past those apartments- you know the ones that are newly painted but still look like they’re falling apart.” 

“I’m familiar with them,” Roman grinned, “I live in them.” 

Virgil’s face fell, “Oh my god- I didn’t mean to insult-“ 

“Nah dude, you’re right- they suck!” Roman cackled, easing Virgil back from panic mode. Virgil slid out a grin, glad Roman was relaxing a tad bit. He could feel himself do the same if he was honest. 

“Well lead the way, Dark and Stormy.” 

Virgil grabbed the sleeve of Romans letterman jacket, dragging him down the blocks of the street, the two falling into a comfortable silence as Virgil took him towards Foxies. Roman kept his eyes forward, enjoying the rainy look the world had taken on, all wet and damp while still being beautiful. The leaves that were falling of the trees only added to the aesthetic. Virgil kept glancing at Roman, the dark clouds making him look slightly illuminated. Romans green eyes seemed to bounce of the surrounding area making them look more vibrant than Virgil had seen them in awhile. 

The passed the apartments, Roman looking up and frowning. Virgil glanced at him, “Something wrong?” 

“Nothing. Just thought I saw someone in my window…” 

“Maybe one of your parents came home early?” 

Roman let out a bitter laugh, “Moms dead, Dads a... workaholic.” 

“Oh.” Virgil braved up and grabbed Romans hand, looking away, “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault. She died bringing in two little bundles of joy, you know?” 

Virgil nodded. Romans grip on his hand tighten as they passed the apartments completely. He didn’t let go as they walked through the rest of the way. 

Foxy's Cafe was a small building that looked like it didn’t belong in the surrounding area, with its sleek looking bricks and red framing. Walking into the shop, Virgil smiled, the sense of calmness walking over him. Roman followed, green eyes trailing over everything in it. It was a fairly humble shop, beautiful. Red flowers were growing everywhere, and different variants of roses sat in several different vases on the counter. At every table there was a red tulip, highlighting the silver tables. At every window, light red drapes were hung over. The most stunning part though, was the back wall. A huge mural of foxes running and playing stood next to the black chalkboard menu. Roman took it all in with a tiny grin. It was beautiful. It was the type of place Annalise would love and the twins would adore. 

He turned to Virgil, “So what’s good here?” 

“The vanilla lattes are amazing,” Virgil started staining over the chalkboard, “But the real treat is the pastries.” 

Roman took not of the many colorful types of pastries, blue and red and purple. Frosting of white lace decorated them, they were so so pretty. He softly spoke, “Holy shit. This place is perfect.” 

“Damn straight,” A new voice spoke. Roman glanced up, meeting dyed rainbow hair and a smirk, “I put my entire life in it.” 

“Hey Remy,” Virgil grinned, “How’ve you been?” 

“Awesome, Kid, now. The usual?” 

Virgil nodded and the guy- Remy- turned to Roman, “And you?” 

“Hmm…” Roman hummed, thinking for a moment, “A vanilla latte and that red pastries.” 

Remy nodded, handing the two boys their pastries. He turned, “I’ll bring your coffee out to y’all when it’s ready.” 

Roman thanked him as Virgil sat down at a small table meant for two people. He sat down in the opposing chair, Virgil glancing towards him.

“Tell me about yourself.” 

Roman raised an eyebrow, “What do you want to know, Dark and Stormy Knight?” 

“How about…” Virgil thought, “What’s with your obsession with nicknames?” 

“Oh that’s easy!” Roman started, “When I was five, I noticed my mom started calling me different things- Honey, Starshine, Little Prince- and you have to understand, I really didn’t mean too, but somewhere along the line I started calling people nicknames. What about you? You seem to always have something to call me as well.” 

“A response to your instant nicknames,” Virgil grinned, “And they annoy you.” 

“You annoy me.” 

“Good.” 

Roman stuck his tongue out as Remy handed them their drinks. Both said thank you to him and sipped on their drinks together. 

Roman turned towards Virgil, “I have an idea.” 

Virgil raised a brow and Roman continued, “We play twenty questions.” 

“Deal. It's my turn, though,” Virgil looked like he wanted Roman to challenge him but Roman just made a ‘go on’ hand motion, “Um…. let’s start out with the personal, I guess. What’s your favorite color?” 

“Oof. Too personal. I can’t believe you’re already jumping into the deep.” Roman put a hand over his heart in betrayal. “Gold, though. Yours?” 

Virgil picked at his pastry, “Lavender, to be honest.” 

“Ooh, not black?” 

“I’m not that emo,” Virgil huffed, “Either way, favorite song?” 

“Bohemian Rhapsody.” 

“Not a musical song?” 

Roman grinned, “Surprisingly not. I’ve got a hardcore soft spot for Queen. And your favorite song?”

“Probably… First Time He Kissed A Boy by Kadie Elder or… Scarecrow by MCR.” Virgil said. 

“Emo.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Virgil grinned, “Favorite show?” 

“Steven Universe.” 

“No way, mine too!” 

“Favorite Character?” 

“Lapis, you?” 

“Amethyst,” Roman said, and they exchanged grins, “It makes perfect sense that you like Lapis best.” 

“Shut up,” Virgil’s face dropped a little as if he was thinking of something dark, “So I’ve got a question. What exactly happened to your face? Y’know, since everyone seems set on blaming me.” 

Roman was quiet, “It was a matter of honor. This guy I know was insulting my sister- Annalise, not the twins- saying some pretty nasty stuff about her. Worst part is, she was in the other room. So I told him off- probably not my smartest move- and he decked me.”

“Holy shit, Roman,” Virgil’s voice was slightly shaky, “Did you fight back.”

Roman held up the back of his hands, showing that no bruises laying there. Virgil looked at him wide eyed, “Why didn't you fight back?” 

“I’ve,” Roman hesitated, “I’ve grown a lot from the freshman who used to get in fights every week. I learnt sometimes it’s better to just take it than to dish it out and be beaten senseless. You know?” 

Virgil nodded. Roman continued, “So here my question, do you hate me? Y’know, because everyone seem to think you do.

Virgil grinned at the reference to his question, “No. I don’t hate you. I don’t actually think your that bad, to be honest.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well… think about it. You’re probably the only asshole in the world that takes note that I have anxiety. You don’t fuck with me on days it bad and for some reason you can always tell even when I’m making it as unseeable as possible. You never mess with me whenever I’m upset, and even more you’re the only person- besides Pa- in that hell hole who would willingly help me through a panic attack. You’re a good guy, Roman, a really good one.” Virgil rambled, “The way you talk about your younger siblings, just solidifies it. You act like they’re your world when you have other stuff you could be focusing on. You’re dedicated, and loyal, and awesome, you know?” 

Roman started at Virgil in awe as Virgil’s face grew red enough to be seen through the conciliar. Quick to change topics Virgil spiked quickly, “What about you? Do you hate me?” 

“No,” Roman responded just as fast, “I never did. For a long time I thought we had a rivalry thing going but it’s just- we were boarding on friends for a really long time. But I always kind of thought you hated me and didn’t like me at all. I always kind of found myself wondering what it would be like if we were friends. You always seemed to see through my bullshit. And you always called me out on it- I gotta thank you for that. When I go unchecked I’m told that I’m absolutely awful, ha. You were always kind too. Even when you were insulting me you always made sure to go for the things that I could actually fix- I can only recall like, two, times that you ever hit me where it hurts. You're probably a better guy than I am.”

The two sat there in a silence, Remy having slept to the back room long before the two questions had been asked. Roman looked at Virgil, memorizing every angle of his face. It was striking to be honest. When had Virgil gotten so attractive? He glanced away from the shorter boy. Virgil had always been cute but he had never been so strikingly beautiful before. 

Virgil cleared his throat, “So, um, tell me about your sisters.” 

“Tia and Luna are both seven- though you probably knew that from yesterday. They’re angels- honestly, I don’t know how considering it’s just been me, Annalise, and my father. Tia is fluent in Spanish and Luna is still picking up on things- mainly cause my mom isn’t around to teach us things anymore. Me and Annalise keep it alive you know?” He shrugged, hands moving as he gushed about the twins, “They’re brilliant though. So incredibly smart and kind and fairly talented. Luna can already draw in all her favorite styles, and Tia has read every book in the children’s section of the public library.” 

Virgil nodded along, loving how soft Roman got when bragging about his sisters. He took a sip of his drink, “How about Annalise?” 

“God, Annalise is so awesome. She’s so strong- and despite all her anxiety issues, depression, and mental issues, she’s still fighting and kicking. I adore her to be honest. She’s about two years younger than me, and we get along like a wildfire most of the time,” He grinned, “She’s top of her class. You know Pierceton Academy? They’re currently looking into giving her a scholarship and I’m so so proud of her. Of course, not that we can afford it if it’s not full ride, but it’s the fact that people think she’s good enough to qualify for an academic scholarship in the first place.”

“Woah, she sounds like a genius.” 

“She really is!” 

Roman ran a hand through his hair, grinning madly, “Either way, how about you?” 

“Only child ever since Pa and Dad adopted me,” Virgil shrugged, “Though before that I was tossed around from family to family with various numbers of kids in them.”

“Cool,” Roman could kind of tell that it was a sensitive topic for Virgil, so he pushed onto a new one, “How are your parents?” 

“Pa is super stressed right now- several students are failing his class, which by the way, he considers you one of those students,” Virgil said playfully, “And Dads just getting settled in at his new job, so he’s doing pretty great. He loves your sisters by the way- he keeps saying theyre little angels, probably the smartest kids in class.” 

Roman beamed under that, “I should hope so!”

“Hey can I ask a question, one that’s probably intruding a little bit?” 

“Shoot.” 

“What was your mom like?” 

Roman smiled soft and sad, “That’s really not intruding at all, dude. To put it simply? She was the best person on this earth. I’m her spitting image you know? It’s the one thing that really motivates me to take care of myself, cause I look just like her. But she was kind, and funny, and smart, and brilliant. Her puns were next level, and she fostered my love for Disney by loving it more than anything in the world. She was amaz-“ 

His phone rang, cutting him off. He jumped, as he answered it, noting about an hour and thirty minutes had passed, “Hello?” 

“R’man, y’u little fag, why the fuck aren’t y’u at sch’l?” His father’s sllured  speech rang through the phone.

Roman tensed up, “I’ll be home in ten minutes top.” 

“Fuck y’u, fag,” His father snarled, “Get h’me n’w!” 

The phone hung up and Roman sent an apologetic smile to Virgil, “Sorry bout that, but looks like we’ve been busted. See ya at school tomorrow?” 

“Tomorrow’s a game day, remember?” 

“Oh. Yeah,” He threw a grin at Virgil, picking up his stuff, ignoring how his hands shook, “So I’ll see you at the game?” 

“Yeah, of course,” Virgil breathed out. 

Roman smiled at him, waving his goodbye as he rushed towards his apartment. He dreaded the oncoming storm that awaited him when he got home. 


	7. Chapter 7: Family Portrait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman was running, one of the few things he was good at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes I wrote this in a rush because I’m really excited for the next chapter to be honest!! 
> 
> Trigger warnings:   
> Abuse  
> Graphic abuse   
> Violence   
> Homophobia   
> Implied long time abuse

Roman was running, one of the few things he was good at. He was running as fast as his legs could carry him, mind on hyper drive. It had all been going so well too. 

He really felt like he and Virgil were connecting- that they were finally becoming something more than what everyone thought they were. He had to admit the idea of it had been more welcoming than Roman wanted to admit. He was seeing Virgil in a whole new light and it was breathtaking. He was breathtaking. And Roman didn’t know how to feel about it. He didn’t know how to feel about the butterflies in his stomach when he thought about Virgil coming to the game tomorrow. A game that he wasn’t even sure he was going to be playing in to be honest. 

His feet hit the pavement, and he raced through the gate. He rounded his way up the stairs. His apartment was loud. His father was shouting loudly, there was a quiet sob. Romans blood ran cold. 

He burst into the apartment, taking in the scene in before him. His father was cursing madly, one hand bleeding and the other holding a bottle of some cheap scotch. Annalise was on the floor, hand clutching her cheek. She had a cut on it, and a black eye was forming. It had obviously taken two hits to take her down. The thought made Roman shake. 

She was supposed to be in school. She was supposed to be in school. She was supposed to be safe. But she wasn’t. She wasn’t at school, she was laying on the apartment floor looking at their father with all the spite in the world. Her eyes turned to Roman and dread entered them. Their father stopped his ranting. He turned to Roman. 

“Welc’me h’me fag,” His father growled, alcohol slurring his voice, “Get ‘ver here.” 

Roman stumbles over towards them eyes on Annalise, “Father. Anna, why aren’t you at school?” 

The last part was a desperate whisper, a plea of ‘please tell me that this isn’t real.’ He couldn’t- he wouldn’t accept that Anna had ditched school and had been caught in their father’s clutches. She was supposed to be safe. That’s why he was here, on this earth, to try to keep her safe. But clearly he failed, because here she was, crying on the floor of their apartment hurt and bruised. He failed his baby sister. When all of this had started he promised he would keep her safe. He swore it. And yet, here she was. She looked away from him ashamed. 

His father took a step towards Roman, a sneer on his face, “Why the fuck weren’t y’u tw’ at sch’l?!” 

“Anna came to drop something off. I called her to help me. By the time she found the stuff I needed and gave it to me she had missed the first part of her school day. I told her to take it off. I ditched school to get her food, since she brought me my stuff.” The lied slipped off his tongue effortlessly as he twisted the truth. 

His hands were shaking. He was looking his father in the eyes and he spoke. From the corner of his vision he could see Annalise’s eyes widening. She knew what he was doing. She knew that he was directing the blame towards himself so that she wouldn’t get hurt any farther. Her mouth snapped shut and a fresh wave of tears seemed to escape her eyes. 

His father didn’t speak, he just motioned for Roman to come closer. Roman took a few hesitant steps towards his father. His father glared at him, “Listen, y’u fuckin fairy, y’u d’ n’t ever tell y’ur bitch sister t’ skip. Underst’d?” 

His father’s breath reeked of alcohol. It was the worse smell, and it was ingrained into Romans senses. He resisted the urge to flinch as he quietly said, “Anna isn’t a bitch.” 

“What did y’u say?” His father snarled. 

Roman gulped, “Anna isn’t a bitch.” 

The hit came fast and was very expected. Roman stumbled back a wheeze escaping his throat as he tried not to cough. His father grabbed his hair forcing Roman to look up towards him. He felt the coldness of the alcohol bottle against his neck, and it made him all the more nervous. His father studied his face for a bit, before drawing his fist back and slamming it over Romans already bruised eye. He let out a strangled gasp as his father forced him down and started kicking. He curled in on himself, freaking out for a moment. 

His father kept kicking and Annalise screamed loudly, begging their father to stop. The constant hitting stopped. Roman freezed. He looked up, just as his father brought a foot down on Annalise’s hand as a sickening crack rang through they apartment. He scrambled up, tackling his dad. His fist hit his father’s face but he couldn’t stop, he couldn’t. 

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, tears escaping his eyes. 

He hated this. He hated the violence of it all. But he would be completely damned if he let his father hurt his sister. 

His father seemingly went slack, knocked out by the forces of Roman’s blows. He relaxed. He got off his father and turned toward his sister, who was clutching her hand. It didn’t look broken, but it did look like.. well like something bad. He gently helped her up, “Are you okay?” 

“No. Are you?” 

“No.” Roman grinned at her, “Come on, let’s get that hand wrapped up.” 

Annalise looked down, “Is it… is it broken?”

“Doesn’t look like it is,” Roman assured her, “I can schedule a doctors appointment after we get situated. But let’s go ahead and wrap it just in case, okay?” 

Annalise nodded and walked with Roman to the bathroom, where they kept all the medical supplies. She hopped up on the counter, sitting with her legs hanging off the side like she was six again. She glanced at her older brother, who was clearly in pain. 

Annalise frowned, “Should you be doing this?” 

“You’re hurt, and I’m the only one who knows how to tape up a hand. Besides you’re hurt, no way in hell would I let you take care of yourself.” Roman was stiff. 

“Are we… are we okay, Ro?” Annalise spoke softly. 

Roman started working on her hand, being as gentle as possible, “I told you to go back to school, Annalise. I know that you don’t like it at that school, but I told you to go back.” 

“You can’t talk!” Annalise said, her face bright red, “You skipped too! With that dark and emo boy!” 

“You’re right! I did skip with Virgil! But I am older than you, and what’s even more though- I told you! I asked you to get back to school!” Roman snapped, hands shaking, “Do you know how terrifying it was to walk in here and see you on the floor? Do you know how scared I was?” 

Annalise was quiet, silent tears going down her face. Roman sighed, “I’m sorry for snapping. I just- that was terrifying Anna. I was terrified.”

“Don’t you think I’m terrified too?” Annalise said softly, “Every time you call us all into your room, and I’m left singing lullabies to get the twins to sleep because you feel like you have to protect all of us- don’t you think I’m so scared that you’re gonna come back even more hurt than you already are?”

Roman was silent for a moment, “It’s my job to protect you. I’m your older brother.” 

“No it’s not your job!” Annalise moves her good hand in an exasperated motion, “It’s supposed to be his job. He’s supposed to protect us. He’s our dad. You’re supposed to make fun of us, and beat up our first boyfriends and- and-“ 

She sobbed. Roman finished her hand, pulling her into a hug. She cried into his shirt as he shushed her, comforting her. He hummed, “I know, sunfire. I know.” 

She cried even harder at the old nickname her mom used to call her, holding onto her older brother like he was the only thing keeping her up. Roman spoke again, “I know it’s not my job to protect you, but I want to. I’m a prince you know? Gotta protect those I care about. 

She let go of him, wiping her tears off her face, smiling a bit, “That’s right. You’re a prince.” 

“Alright,” Roman stepped away from his sister, “You gotta go get the twins. I’m gonna put him in bed.” 

“You should leave him to rot.”

Roman looked away from her, “He's still our dad Anna.”

“He stopped being our dad a long time ago.”

Roman was quiet. Annalise sighed, “I’m gonna go get the twins.” 

“I’m going to practice today,” Roman spoke, “I won’t be here when you guys get home.” 

Annalise nodded, “I’ll take them to the park then.” 

Annalise hopped off of the bathroom, and made her way out. Roman looked in the mirror.

He was the spitting image of his mother. He wondered what she would have thought of him now. She would be proud, he hoped, that he was standing up for them. The black eye looked even worse now. At least the cut on his lip hasn’t reopened. 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He exited the bathroom, throwing his lettermen down on the couch. He looked towards his father. 

This was the man who had once been so gentle. So kind. Now he was just this. He was just this. He was just an alcoholic, abusive, asshole. He grabbed his father by the arm, dragging him towards his bedroom.  

He tucked him in the bed. His father would most likely be out for the night. He rubbed his eyes for a moment. When had his dad become this? Not for the first time he felt a sting of emotions toward his father. He’d never hate him- he had too many good memories for that. Too many good memories of him with his mom. Roman turned away. He hoped that he never became his father. As much as he wanted to love someone so much, he didn’t want that love to destroy him when that person was gone. A part of him knew that this was all his dad, and his mom's death just triggered it. A part of him was scared that that could become him. 

He closed the door,  sighing as he walked away from his father’s door. He had a football practice to go to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the football game!!


	8. Chapter Eight: The football game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To say that Virgil was excited for the football game was an understatement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This gave me cavities to write! I really hope you like it! This was the sweetest thing ever. 
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> Implied bullying

To say that Virgil was excited for the for the football game was an understatement. Virgil was more excited for this football game than he had been for anything in his life- excluding getting adopted. But this was a wildly different kind of excited- then he had knew exactly why he was excited. Now he had no idea why he was so excited.

He stepped out of his bedroom, wearing his bright purple fallout boy shirt- the long sleeves came as a comfort and a blocker against the cold as he decided not to wear his leather today. He wanted to stand out a bit today- although the thought filled him with a slight dread. He spent a lot of his life sticking out. But today he wouldn’t mind sticking out. At least just to grab Ro- someone’s attention.

He turned to his dad as he sat down on the kitchen table, “Hey, I’m gonna go to the football game today.”

Both of his father’s froze and exchanged looks. His Dad spoke up, “Who are you and what did you do to my son?”

“What?” He raised an eyebrow, “I’m your son. I just want to go to the football game.”

“Virgil, son,” His Pa spoke, eyes still trained on Virgil, “You hate football. With a passion. With an extreme passion.”

Virgil felt a tad bit defensive, “No I don’t!”

“Honey, last time we took you to see a football game you stood up in the first quarter, and left.” Patton said, “Every single time there is a football game- in town or out- you spend the entire day complaining about it. You hate football. So what gives, kiddo?”

“Um..” Virgil huffed, “Nothing.”

“Virgil, after your actions in ditching school yesterday, we have to know,” Logan raised and eyebrow, “So what gives?”

“...Roman invited me.”

The reaction was immediant, as his Pa sputtered ‘Roman Princeton?!’ and his Dad squealed ‘Roman Princeton?’ at the same time. Virgil blushed and looked down as his Dad jumped up, dancing around the kitchen in the way that meant he was excited. His Pa sputtered on, “When did he even invite you?”

“Yesterday. At Foxy’s.”

“You went to Foxy’s with him?” Patton squealed out, grinning like a madman, “As in a date?”

“No!” Both Virgil and Logan snapped.

Virgil looked at his Pa, “Okay first it wasn’t a date, second what do you mean no?”

“You’re too young to date! You’re still a child, is all!” Logan crossed his arms.

Patton giggled, “Lo he’s sixteen, going on seventeen, I know he’s not naive. Fellows he meets-“

“Patton, you’re singing again.”

“Oh hush you,” He rolled his eyes at his husband, “Either way. He’s not a child anymore. If his ‘not-date’ with Roman Princeton was a date then I say good- he deserves a prince-ton!”

Virgil looked at his Pa, “Would you really be so opposed to me dating Roman Princeton?”

“No,” His Pa spoke cautiously, “it’s just- you’re my child, Virgil, I don’t want you to get your heart broken. And I certainly don’t want to send you out to that world of romance and feelings. Hell, I barely survived it! I just- it feels like yesterday that we brought you here. Like just yesterday we showed you The Nightmare before Christmas and Alice in Wonderland. I don’t want to let that little boy I know go.”

Virgil felt his heart melt slightly, “Pa, you know I will always be that little boy. I just- I grew up. And that’s not a bad thing, ya know?”

“Logically, I know that.” Logan sighed, “But unfortunately no emotion ever listens to logic.”

“And what emotion would that be?”

“Love, Virgil. I love you. You’re my son and I love you.”

A quiet, kind moment passed between the family as Patton grinned at his two boys with pride. There was a time in his life when Logan would have rather died than admit that he loved anyone, let alone people he cared about. And here he was speaking so openly about his emotions with their son- their son who, when he’d come into their life, had jumped at every noise. Flinched away from every touch. And now here they were talking to each other.

Patton wiped a tear from his eye, “I’m so proud of you two.”

Virgil flashed a smile at his father, noting the time, “Yo we’re gonna be late.”

“What?” Logan snapped, “Everyone get in the car! Timing is of the essence!”

Patton giggled, grabbing his school stuff. Virgil grabbed his black pack, doing a once over. He looked fine. He looked fine. 

  


Standing at the entrance of the school once again he cursed himself for wearing just a long sleeve shirt and not an actual jacket. He should have worn his leather. He picked at the purple shirts sleeves as he shivered in front of the building. A hand clasped his shoulder and he jumped.

“Woah! Slow down there, My chemically imbalanced friend!” Roman chuckled.

He was glowing, his cheeks bright red from the cold and his hair windswept. He looked happier than ever, “Whats up?”

“I’m freezing my ass off,” Virgil huffed, “I should’ve brought a jacket.”

Roman shrugged off his letterman, “Here, take this-“

“Yo, Princeton! We gotta go! Coach wants us on the field now!”

Roman turned, “I’m coming, Ross!”

“Can you believe them?” He grinned, turning back to Virgil.

“You’ve known Nick forever, what’s with the last names?” Virgil raised an eyebrow, giving a short nod to Nick Ross who shyly waved at him.

“Football team tradition,” Roman said, handing Virgil his jacket, “Here.”

“What? Roman I can’t take this from you-“

“I want you to have it.” Roman blushed, “Seriously.”

Virgil blushed, taking the jacket, “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Princeton! Get your ass moving!”

Roman turned, “Alright! I’m going!”

“Sorry, um,” Roman looked at him, “I should probably go.”

“Yeah.” Virgil said, slipping the jacket on. It was warm. It smelt like firewood and cologne and something so amazing and Virgil was absolutely drowning in it. The jacket was huge on him. He looked towards Roman who was already walking away, “Hey Roman?”

Roman turned towards him, a curious glint in his green eyes.

“Good luck.”

Romans blush came back full force, a sly grin pasting its way into his cheeks, “Thanks.”

Virgil felt like he was floating. The warm pressure of Romans jacket kept him grounded as he made his ways through the day. He could barely even here the whispers that ran down the hallways at him wearing Romans jacket. It seemed like everyone else was just like him: not believing what was happening. Not believing that he, Virgil Sanders, was wearing Roman Princeton’s jacket.

The day flew by in a breeze, and soon enough lunch time came. He stepped into the hallway, relaxing, finally away from the large crowds that was the cafeteria. He sighed to himself, grinning as he zipped the jacket up. He still couldn’t believe that Roman had willingly given him his jacket. In front of everybody. He refused to let that part make him nervous because for once he was happy. He was ecstatic. He was excited.

“Hey! Sanders! Wait up!” The voice of Simon Spier called out.

He turned to see the blonde speed walking towards him, Kylee and Abby got on his heels. He stopped, unease blooming in his chest. He fiddled with the sleeves of Romans jacket as the boy walked towards him.

“We just want to apologize,” He started, “For everything really- we were all pretty bad to you.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Um… thank you?”

“Listen, Sanders, I may not like you but apparently you and Roman are friends,” Kylee said, her eyes lingering on Romans jacket, “Or more than that.”

“We’re just friends.”

Abby snorted, “Sure, Jan.”

“I’ve got a question for you, though,” Simon said, a kind look in his eyes, “Where did you and Roman go after Roman ran off yesterday?”

Virgil spluttered, “What makes you think I was with Roman?”

“Weren’t you?”

“...I took him to a cafe I know. He was pretty shaken up about you guys all thinking he was awful and bullying me.”

Simon sighed, “We never thought he was awful-“

“We kind of did though,” Kylee muttered, looking away, “We assumed he would jump Sanders, didn’t we?”

“Yeah,” Virgil said, uncomfortably, “You Guys did, and it messed him up fairly badly. Like, even I know that Roman would never. He’s not that kinda dude. Besides he’s grown a lot from that kid that used to get into fights all the time. He hasn’t been that kid for a long long time. I think you all need to realize that he’s nothing like those things at all.”

Kylee looked annoyed, “Again, like you know him so well.”

“And again, better than you if you think he’d do stuff like that.”

“Oh will you two stop bickering?” Simon snapped at the two. He turned to Kylee, “We are here to apologize to Virgil- who does know Roman, and apparently knows him a lot better than any of us because he’s right when he says these things- and invite him to sit with us at the game. Stop it.”

He turned to Virgil, who kind of felt like a child getting scorned, “And you- you don’t have to respond to her aggravations. She’s just angry because you’re right.”

Virgil nodded, glancing away from the trio. He didn’t really like this conversation. All the ease that had come from wearing Romans jacket vanished because of these three people. He had never really been picked on by Simon- he was always pretty nice to Virgil- but Virgil still didn’t enjoy his company. And Abby was pretty silent, but she had never been particularly anything towards him. But after yesterday he really wasn’t cool with Kylee. She had assumed things about both him and Roman. And she was pretty rude about it too.

“So either way,” Simon said, “We wanted to invite you to sit with us today at the game.”

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking,” Virgil said, unease in his body, “Why? Like you guys have never once asked me to join you. Ever. So why now?”

Surprisingly, it was Abby that spoke up, “We all kind of feel bad about everything. So we’re inviting you- course we’re all doing it to also mess with Romans head. He’s gonna freak if he sees you in the front row, wearing his jacket, looking all pretty.”

“What- He would- what are you-“

“Either way,” Kylee interrupted his stammering, “Are you sitting with us or not?”

Virgil looked at the three of them. It wasn’t like he wanted to impress Roman, but… the offer seemed tempting. He had too admit the past two days had been really really good. Like really good. Talking with Roman at Foxy’s had been… amazing. And calming. And carefree. Could they be right? Could there be.. more?

He nodded, “Yeah, I’ll sit with you guys.”

“Great!” Simon smiled, bright and happy, “You should sit with us at lunch! No pressure if you don’t want to though-“

“No, no,” Virgil said, rushing amounts of bravery, “I’ll eat lunch with you.”

“That’s great!” Simon said, grinning and turning, motioning for Virgil to follow.

Virgil trailed next to the trio as Simon and Kylee entered a debate about some show that Virgil had never heard of but sounded interesting. It was completely strange how things had changed so rapidly. Here he was, wearing Roman Princeton’s jacket, going to eat in the cafeteria with Simon Spier, Kylee Seamen, and Abby Vincent. This was change. He usually didn’t like change, but a part of him wondered if this was a good change.

He sat down next to the trio and joined in on their conversation every once and awhile.

  


Roman had been playing beautifully all night. Virgil didn’t understand football all that much- he felt his heart well up in panic every time number 1 got tackled- but he knew that Roman was being a complete and utter god on the field. It turned out that this game was really important because they were going off against their rivals- some team from some town five towns over. The fact that Roman was playing so well, had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Virgil was there. That’s what Virgil kept telling himself, because why in the world would Roman ever play good just for him.

His heart in no way shape or form fluttered after the goal Roman made where he looked back at Virgil and waved. His stomach in no way shape or form had butterflies when Roman had grinned at him when he passed him on his way to talk to the coach. Nope. He was most certainly not blushing because Romans ass was literally the best thing about the uniforms. Nope.

Simon grinned at him, yelling over the crowd, “Virgil! You’re glowing!”

He was giggling and looked to be floating, despite the coldness of the night. He was wearing Bram Greenfields jacket though, and judging by how warm Roman’s was, he was probably the warmest out of everyone. Virgil turned to him, “Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Both of you! Shush! Look!” Kylee shouted, pointing at the screen, showing that the other team had scored a point while their attention had been snatched away. That wasn’t good. They had about three minutes before the game was over, and there was going to be no over time in this one. Virgil cursed under his breath- he really wanted Roma- THE TEAM- He really wanted the team to win this.

His eyes focused on the game- Roman was in possession of the ball. He was on the other side of the feild, he had about two minutes to go. He passed it to Bram, he ran towards the half yard line. Bean tossed it the second some asshole from the other team tackled him down. Virgil heard Simon inhale, but he was too focused on Roman to care. Roman had the ball and there was a minute left. Roman dodged a player as he tore through the field. Five seconds. He was almost there. Three seconds. Touch down!

Virgil kept up, screaming. This was amazing! This was awesome! Roman was- holy shit.

Time slowed down as he saw what was happening on the field. The quarterback from the other team was on top of Roman, throwing fists, Romans helmet five feet away from him. The roar of the crowd number up as he saw Nick and Carter tearing the guy off Roman, who stood back up only to get tackled again- this time Roman threw a punch, trying to defend himself. Simon let out a scream, and it was only then that Virgil realized it wasn’t just Roman. It was literally the entire team. Bram went down, as Roman threw the guy on him off of himself and charged towards where one of the players was holding Bram down.

He threw the guy off of Bram, punching him in the face. Virgil felt his heart stop as three guys simultaneously dog piled. By this time people were no longer screaming in excitement but a sort of fear. Roman went down and this time he stayed down. The teachers and coaches pulled the boys off each other but Roman stayed down. He stayed down as Bram hauled him up. He stayed down as Simon held Virgil’s hand when Virgil stepped towards the field. He stayed down when Bram hailed him up onto the players bench. He stayed down when Simon walked Virgil too the bench he was on. He stayed down as Virgil stood next to him, as the nurse checked over him.

“Damn it Princey,” Virgil muttered, “Why do you constantly get hurt?”

Bram and Simon looked at him from the side of their view. The nurse stepped away from Roman, towards the coaches saying something that Virgil couldn’t hear before she left. He stepped closer to Roman, kneeling down to look at his hands. Bruised and bloody. He gripped onto it, studying them. He muttered more to himself than anyone, “Get up you idiot.”

“ ‘Rgil?” Roman muttered.

Virgil looked up at Roman. Everything seemed to stop around him as those green eyes focused on him. Virgil acted on impulse.

He kissed Roman Princeton. And more importantly Roman Princeton kissed back.


	9. Chapter Nine: My little Runaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman threw his head back laughing as he danced with Virgil in the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My phone didn’t want me to post this story but I told it no and that I had too. 
> 
> Trigger warnings:   
> Implied Abuse

Roman threw his head back laughing as he danced with Virgil in the middle of the parking lot. The dancing was the spur of the moment decision, to celebrate the win, the kiss, and Roman being cleared for no concussion. He had grabbed Virgil’s hand and had twirled him, giggling and laughing. Virgil’s smile was brighter than any of the parking lot lights. It was freezing, and Roman was cold, but Virgil was nice and warm in Romans jacket and in his arms. 

Virgil laughed, “Princey! Stop it!”

“Make me!” Roman laughed loudly, spinning Virgil around once more. 

Virgil pounced on him, kissing him once again as he tried to get Roman to stay still. Roman relaxed into the kiss, a wide grin spreading across his face. Virgil pulled back chuckling, “I can’t kiss you if you’re smiling, Princey.” 

“That’s strange,” Roman winked at him, “I’m smiling because you’re kissing me.” 

“Shut up,” Virgil grinned, giving him a small kiss once again.

Roman hummed, “You can’t make me.”

“Oh?” Virgil raised an eyebrow, “That’s a bet!” 

“A bet we don’t have time for!” Roman chuckled, holding Virgil close to himself, “You have to go home.” 

“Don’t wanna.” 

“My dark little storm cloud, you have to. Your dads called you thirty minutes ago.” 

“And yet,” Virgil gave another small peck to Roman, “You wanted to dance in the parking lot.”

“It’s only natural a prince dance with his favorite starry knight.” Roman grinned, kissing Virgil once again, “Either way, I have to ask your dads something.” 

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “What?” 

“Call me a traditionalist, but I wanna ask their permission to date you,” Roman said, as Virgil snorted, “Stop laughing! My mama raised me right!”

“Sorry! Sorry!” Vigil laughed, “I think it’s sweet. I promise.” 

Roman huffed, but pulled Virgil close to him wrapping an arm around his side. He kissed Virgil’s temple and walked towards Virgil’s house, “I still can’t believe you kissed me.” 

“I can’t believe it either, to be honest.” 

“Don’t get me wrong,” Roman hummed, “I love the fact that you did, but I don’t wanna make you anxious. You kinda kissed me in front of everybody.” 

Virgil sighed, leaning into Roman a little more, “I was just… caught up in it all. I really don’t like seeing you hurt. I’m not looking forward to school on Monday, I’ll tell you that.” 

“Awww, but honey, you get to show me off on Monday,” Roman winked at him again, “And I make an excellent trophy.”

“I should make a jacket saying ‘Keep him! I don’t want him!’ on it shouldn’t I?” Virgil grinned at him. 

Roman laughed, “Only if I get one that says ‘If lost, please return to Virgil.’” 

“God, we’re not even official yet, and we’re already disgusting.” 

“Rude.” 

“Wrong. I’m valid.” 

“Yeah, you are,” Roman glanced at him, “But you’re still rude. And besides, we’re gonna be official after we get the okay from your parents.” 

Virgil stuck his tongue out as they walked into the gates of his neighborhood. He was relishing the warmth that was Roman Princeton. 

He wasn’t going to lie, every part of his body was screaming at him for kissing Roman in front of everyone. No doubt was he gonna get either made fun of or praised tomorrow and knowing himself… it would probably be the first not the second. He knew that several dozen people had crushes on Roman Princeton. Not having a crush on Roman Princeton ever was like not knowing that the sun is a star. Anyone with a brain could have one. And a big part of him was dreading it. 

A smaller part of him was whispering how he was the one actually dating Roman Princeton and they weren’t. 

He turned to Roman, “This is me.” 

“Oof,” Roman put a hand over his heart, “Our time together is so short, My Heart, yet I cherish every moment of it.” 

“You’re a loser,” Virgil laughed, as he dragged Roman to the door with him. 

Roman laughed, before knocking on the door. About a second later a worried looking Patton Sanders answered the door, worry morphing into confusion. He opened the door wider to show a pacing Logan Sanders look up at them through the door. 

“Hey Dad, Hey Pa.” Virgil waved at them, slinking out from Romans arm, “I’m home.”

“And you brought Roman?” 

“And I brought Roman.” 

Patton stepped inside a little more, “Well come on in kiddos. You boys have had a long night haven’t you?” 

Logan rushed towards them as the two walked in, standing near the door, “There was a fight at the football game, yes? Are you two alright?”

“Yeah,” Roman grinned, “Virgil wasn’t on the field for the actual fight.” 

“Thank god for that,” Patton smiled, “Though I have no doubt in my mind that you would have protected him.”

“Daaaaad, stop,” Virgil groaned, “I’m gonna go get some tea. Roman, make yourself at home.” 

He smiled at Roman before heading into the kitchen. Patton and Logan exchanged looks, before looking at Roman. 

Patton kind of wanted to cry at seeing the boys face. There were so many bruises, and a cut on his lip that must have been from before the football game. He looked like he had been through hell and back. Logan on the other hand was conflicted. Roman looked decidedly worse than he had when Logan has last saw him, a whopping two days ago. However there was a certain shine in his eyes, a smile gracing his face that Logan was pretty sure that he had never seen on the boy before. It was… happy. Really happy. The kind of happy he was around Patton, and Patton was around him.

Roman turned to them, “Sirs, I wanna ask you something.” 

Logan nodded, motioning for Roman to go on. 

“Well,” Roman swallowed down the anxiety, “I would like to ask for your permission to be Virgil’s boyfriend. I know that seems weird- since it’s Virgil’s choice- but my Mamá didn’t raise an impolite boy, and it’s always good to ask and-“

“Roman, if Virgil wants to, you have our permission to be boyfriends,” Logan said, smiling a bit, “The fact that you thought to ask us, is very charming. It eases my mind that you would take time and consideration to ask us this, even though ultimeny it is Virgil’s choice.” 

”Thank you, sir.” 

“Yes well,” Logan looked away from the two of them, “I will go assist Virgil with the tea.” 

He turned away, and Roman frowned. He really thought that maybe the teacher was getting warmed up to him. Maybe not. Maybe he was just happy for his son. 

Patton turned to him, “Don’t mind Logan. He doesn’t really know how to deal with overwhelming emotions- you know. Happiness. Love. The works. He really doesn’t want Virgil to grow up, and he’s afraid that Virgil already has. He’s really happy about this though, I can tell.” 

“You think so?” Roman asked, “I really just want to prove that I’m good enough for Virgil- I know he and I had a rocky start and that everyone seems to think we hate each other. But to be honest… I’m pretty sure I’ve liked him for awhile now.”

“Virgil has liked you since last year when you stopped him from getting beat up once he came out,” Patton grinned, “You’re already good enough. Trust me. You’re the Prince my little boy needs.” 

“Dad, please don’t make such awful puns in front of my boyfriend,” Virgil said, stepping out of the kitchen, his other father close behind him carrying a tray with four mugs on it. Patton grinned, ushering Roman down to the couch. 

Virgil handed his father a mug with kittens on it, and handed Roman a red Disney mug, “Cinnamon’s your favorite right?” 

“Yeah, how did you know?” 

“You always drink it before plays,” Virgil grinned, “And everyone knows because it makes you smell.” 

“You’re mean to me,” Roman pouted, as Virgil settled in close to him. 

The sanders watched their son and his boyfriend interact, smiling. It was nice. It was soft. It was the kind of romantic that had taken them a long long time to get too. It was nice to see Virgil so open and kind towards another person, and it was even more charming to see Roman Princeton grinning like a madman with a bright red blush on his face. The two joined conversation, bringing up embarrassing things from Virgil’s youth that had Roman wheezing way to hard. 

Time was cut short by a call. 

Roman frowned, answering his phone, “Anna? Everything okay?” 

His eyes widened, and he set down the mug as he jolted up, “What do you mean they ran away?”

“When? How long have they been-“ Roman but his lip, pacing a bit as the person on the phone spoke, “No. No I’m at Virgil’s- you shut up we have bigger things to worry about.” 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, “No. Yes. Okay,  okay, either way do you know why they’d run?” 

His whole body tended and he bit out a whisper, “Anna, please tell me you got out of there.”

He relaxed a bit at the answer, “Okay. Alright. I’ll search the park and the elementary school. You get the Ice cream Parlor and the swimming pool.” 

He sighed, hanging up the phone turning towards the confused family sitting on the couch. He ran a hand through his hair, “I’m sorry, I have to go. Tia and Luna ran away from home just now, and Annalise can’t find them.” 


	10. Chapter Ten: Turning Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton didn’t know what to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my shortest chapter yet ha ha. I’m writinv this at 2 am with very little sleep and on my phone, please alert me to any mistakes I’ve made. 
> 
> Trigger warnings: 
> 
> Implied Abuse  
> Implied Alcholism

Patton didn’t know what to think. Of course he, Logan, and Virgil had immediately offered to help, much to Romans thanks. But here they were calling out the twins name at the elementary school, and Patton didn’t know what to think.

The girls talked their praises of Roman and Annalise, why on earth would they run away? He had a theory. He had been having a theory for a long long time. But he didn’t even want to consider it. It would make sense though. Romans bruises- those that preceded the football game. The panicked way he had answered the phone the first day. The fear that had entered his body at what ever Annalise had said when he asked her if she had gotten out of there. The way the twins flinched away from people. The way the twins got scared at sudden loud noises and angry people. The way Annalise had a black eye forming yesterday when she came to pick up the girls. The way she had smiled and told them that Roman had protected her. The way Logan had mentioned his interaction with Annalise and Roman. Things would add up. It would make a hell of a lot of sense if Romans father was abusive.

Patton glanced to Roman and Virgil, “Was it really wise to send Logan after Annalise? I’m not sure he remembers what she looks like and I really don't want either of them getting lost…”

“Mr. Sanders knows what Annalise looks like,” Roman said, his voice tight, “And you know the elementary school better.”

“Fair.” Patton looked around, “We should split up, alright? You two check the front and back of the school, I’ll check the playground.”

Virgil nodded, squeezing Romans hand before heading towards the front of the school. Roman ran his hand through his hair looking after Virgil before turning to Patton, “I’m sorry for all of this. I don’t- I wish they wouldn’t have run away.”

His voice cracked and it was then that Parton realized Roman was crying. Not only was Roman crying he was straight up bawling. Quiet sobs were escaping his mouth, and Patton rushed forward, looping his arms around Roman. He shushed him, “Roman, it’s okay. It’s okay. We’ll find them.”

Roman sobbed harder, not saying anything as he gripped onto Patton’s coat. He was shaking something bad but he needed to stay grounded. Patton hummed, “We’ll find them, Roman. It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.”

Romans crying came to a stop and he pulled back from Patton’s warm embrace. He wouldn’t look Patton in the eye, as he turned away, towards the back of the school, “Thank you, Mr. Sanders.”

“Anytime kiddo…” Patton trailed off. That was strange. That was really strange. It was almost like Roman hadn’t been hugged by a parent in a long time. The way he had gripped onto his Jacket made Patton think of a little Virgil who had crushed Patton the first time he had actually initiated a hug.

He turned towards the playground, “Luna? Tia? Are you kiddos there?”

No answer so Patton drew closer, “Tia, Luna? Are you around here girls?”

A small sniffle came from the slide. Patton jumped at the sound turning towards it, noticing the pink colored light coming from within it.

“Girls? You here?” He asked, slowly, as if not to startle them.

Luna poked her head out, blonde hair shining in the moonlight. She looked like she had been crying, and Patton felt his heart sink. She looked terrified. She gasped upon seeing him, stepping out of the slide on shaky legs, “Mr. Sanders?”

“Heya, Luna,” He waved, “Are you okay?”

Tia stuck her head out of the slide and Patton wanted to cry slightly. She had also been crying, but she looked more shaken up than Luna did. He stepped towards them, “Are you girls okay?”

Luna nodded, “Yes, sir, Mr. Sanders. We just had to leave Home for a bit.”

“Why’s that girls?” He inhaled sharply taking note of the lack of coats on them. He stepped towards them again, slipping off his gray coat and motioning for the two girls to sit on the slide. He wrapped the coat around them before Tia spoke.

“The real evil was home- he- he told us-“

Tia shut her mouth, tears in her eyes as she shoved her face into Luna’s shoulder.  Luna held her twin, tears welling up in her eyes as well. Patton felt tears in his own eyes but forced them down. He needed to be calm. They needed him to be calm.

“Can you tell me what the, Uh, the evil person said?”

“He said he k-killed Ro-Ro,” Luna explained, hands shaking. Her voice caught on the word killed, and she furries her brow, a few tears slipping out, “No, no, he said he, he would ki-kill Ro-Ro.”

Tia shook hard as she let out a loud hurt cry, and Patton felt his heart break. He shushed the girls softly and held them to his chest as he hugged them from where he was sitting in front of the slide.

Patton pulled back slightly, “Who is he? The evil?”

“I don’t-“ Luna looked confused, “I don’t really know. He, um, he lives with us but he’s loud and angry a lot. Ro-Ro usually protects us, cause Ro-Ro is a prince.”

Patton’s eyes widened, “What?”

Tia raised her head off her twins shoulder, “Ro-Ro is a prince.”

Patton wanted to cry again. These girls were so innocent. So kind. So pure. They were going through something and they didn’t even realize what it was. Had anyone ever told them that the Evil was their father? Roman and Annalise must have at some point, but it seemed like the twins didn’t get it. He wanted to take them in his arms and hold them, they were so naive. So young. They didn’t even realize what was happening in their own house did they?

“Tiana Alexandra Princeton!” Romans voice carried across the field as he barreled towards the trio, “Luna Minerva Princeton!”

The twins looked up, a soft gasp leaving Luna as they saw Roman approaching them. Tia jumped off the slide, running past Patton and hurtled herself onto Roman, who had enough common sense in him to stop before they both fell down. He took her up in his arms looking over her as Luna ran towards them. He kissed Tia’s forehead, tears running down his face, “You girls are in so much trouble.”

“Ro-Ro!” Luna cried out barreling into her older brother who just scooped her up in his arms as well, kissing her face as well, she was crying, “He told- told us that he would, that he would kill you!”

Roman frowned, “He couldn’t kill me, Lu-Lu, I’m a prince after all!”

“That’s what we told him!” Tia sobbed into Romans neck, “And he- and he tried to hit me but but Anna moved moved in front of me!”

Patton felt chills run down his spine at the look that crossed Romans face as Roman spoke, “I will never let him hit you two. Ever. Neither will Anna.”

His face turned soft, “However, you two shouldn’t have run away. I can’t say I blame you, given everything, but do you want to know how scared me and Anna were?”

Tia cried harder into Romans neck and Luna looked away ashamed, “But we…”

“But nothing, Luna,” Romans voice was serious, “You shouldn’t ever run away from Anna or Me, okay? If you need to get out, find a way to tell Anna or Me where you two are going. We won’t be mad, we’ll understand.”

Luna nodded, burying her face in Romans neck as well. Roman turned to Patton, exhaustion covering his face, “Thank you so much for helping me find them.”

“Roman…” Patton started, “What were they talking about Kiddo?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Roman said, fast and anxious. Tia’s breathing seemed to even out as she fell asleep in the arms of her older brother. Luna looked close to joining her. Roman shifted his weight, “It was probably some pretend that got out of hand.”

“It didn’t sound like pretend, kiddo,” Patton said, “If someone is hurting you guys, we can help. I promise.”

Roman hesitated, looking at his younger sisters. He seemed to have an internal debate before meeting eyes with Patton again, “Nothings wrong.”

“Kiddo…”

Virgil ran up towards them, “Roman! Dad! You guys found them!”

“Yeah, honey, they were in the slide,” Patton said, eyes still trained on Roman. He glanced towards Virgil, and Virgil seemed to pick up on it. Virgil knew that he wouldn’t say anything until they got home but seemed to realize what Patton wanted him to do.

He turned towards Roman, “Do you want to take them to our house? It’s closer right?”

“No,” Roman said, “No it’s probably for the best I bring them home and call Annalise.”

“Okay,” Virgil said, not liking the anxious feeling bubbling in his chest at the mention of the Home the twins ran away from.

Roman smiles softly, “Thank you both for helping me find them.”

Virgil nodded, and Roman stepped toward him, leaning down to give him a peck on the cheek, “I’ll be seeing you all. I’ll probably text you tonight Virgil.”

Virgil grinned, a pink blush gracing his cheeks, the warm bubbly feeling coming back at the soft press of lips onto his cheeks, “Alright. See ya.”

Roman took out his phone, calling Annalise. He pressed it to his ear, “Anna, hey, I found them.”

“Thank god.”

“Listen, we’ll check if Father’s car is still there. If no we’ll go ahead and go to bed. If yes, I’ll meet you at our usual spot, okay? Either way, I’ll see you.”

“Alright. I love you, Roman. Thank god you found them.”

“I love you too Annalise. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you again.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, Anna, it’s really not.”


	11. Chapter Eleven: Talk Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman stared down at the coffee mug in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Roman internal thought! More Annalise and Virgil!! Foreshadowing thought the chapter!! Agdjdnaonfksnf!! 
> 
> I really hope you guys like this one, it’s a fairly quick chapter and pretty quick read, but I really wanted a chapter kinda showing the motivations for the character, as well as having some screen time for Annalise’s and Virgil’s budding friendship. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings: 
> 
> Implied Abuse  
> Implied Bullying  
> Anxiety

Roman stared down at the coffee mug in his hand. The twins had been tuckered out when Annalise had called to say that their father’s car was gone, so he immediately had put them in his bed. They were out like a light in minutes in the safety of their older brothers bed. Annalise had called him telling him that she was going for a walk, to try to cool down from everything. He was now waiting up for her. 

A part of him knew that was a lie. He wasn’t waiting up for her so much as he was contemplating things, and he knew it. He knew it because he didn’t drink coffee unless he was thinking. His mom used to tell him that one am was an excellent time to think, and Roman was starting to agree with that. He’d been doing a lot of thinking at one am over some coffee. 

His phone lay forgotten on the counter. He had been texting Virgil but he had fallen asleep, leaving Roman alone with his thoughts. And that was worse than anything. 

A part of him wondered why he didn’t tell Patton. Why he didn’t go, ‘Yes. My father is an abusive Alcoholic and I need so, so, so much help right now.’ Why he didn’t tell him, ‘He started drinking when my Mama died and doesn’t usually hit us but beatings have gotten more frequent as time went on.’ Why he didn’t say, ‘Please help me. Please help me, I’m so so scared.’ Because logically he should have. He should have said something. If it were Annalise instead of him, she would have no doubt said something. She was always better at that than him. Better at thinking, ‘This isn’t my father. This is the sperm donor who really didn’t raise me.’ But Roman could never do that. He never knew why but it didn’t ever click that this man shouldn’t be considered his father. Well. He knew why. 

He remembered it vividly to be honest, better than Annalise. How happy his father was when his mother was around. He was a gentle dad who called Roman sport and took Annalise to the bookstore whenever she asked. He never worked overtime, always eager to come and tuck his babies into bed and stay up with his wife. He was kinder back then. He used to take Roman to the playground on the nicer end of town, the one that had a playset castle in it, and pretend to be a knight in Roman’s kingdom. He had been a good father. A good man. And now he was this. 

Roman was so angry for a long time. Angry at the world. At himself. At his father for becoming this. At his mother for dying. At himself for not being stronger. He took the beatings at home and he turned around and fished it out to those who picked on other people. He came home with bruised knuckles that Annalise patched up before sending her to bed with the twins in order to deal with their dad. He was angry. But one day he had come home angry. And god, it scared Annalise. It scared her so badly that she took the twins into her room that night because she assumed that Roman was turning into their dad. And then he wasn’t angry. He was terrified that she was right. 

The worst part, he thought to himself, about everything, is that a part of him still loved his dad. Because his dad had been kind and amazing and good. Now he wasn’t. Now he was evil and angry and everything Roman was so so scared of becoming. He hated that he still couldn’t tell his father apart from his memories. 

He thought back to Patton. He was selfish. He was so selfish when he told Patton that everything was fine. He just wanted to keep his sisters and him together. He just wanted to make sure that they would be safe. Because they were safe at home, as long as Roman was there or their dad was gone. But he was selfish. He was purely selfish. He wasn’t eighteen yet, his seventeenth birthday was four days away, so he would have no legal claim over them. He didn’t want to lose them. God he didn’t want to lose them. 

He felt himself shiver, turning to the hallway where Tia was standing, tears in her eyes blanket in her hand.

“Oh Tia,” he whispered, holding his arms out, “Come here.” 

She crawled up into his arms, resting her head on his chest, “I had, I had a nightmare.”

“Do you wanna talk about it, honey?” 

She nodded, “The evil man was back- he um- he was um, trying to drown you in cinnamon ice cream. Which is weird because you don’t even like cinnamon ice cream, but he um he told me and Lu to eat, to eat the ice cream to save you, but we couldn’t because we didn’t have spoons! And you were drowning!” 

Roman wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. His sister, his adorable little sister, dreamed about him dying which was not okay. But it was cute how she dreamed about him dying in his least favorite ice cream, “Honey, I’d never let that happen. I’d eat all the cinnamon ice cream in the world if it meant I got to stay alive and be with you.” 

“Do you mean it?” Tia asked, bottom lip wavering, “Because I know you hate cinnamon ice cream more than any other flavor of ice cream and, and-“ 

“I pinky promise it, Tia,” He smiled glancing at the clock, “Now come on, let’s get you to bed. It is two after all.” 

As he carried her to bed again, he thought about Annalise. It was two am and he really hoped she wasn’t getting into trouble.

 

Annalise sat on the swings at the park, her breath coming out in puffs of warm gray against the freezing night. Her hands were clenched around the chain of the swings but she wasn’t moving. 

It was a lot. Tonight was a lot.

As happy as she was that Roman finally, finally got something good in his life, she was a little bitter. She really didn’t want her older brother leaving her and the twins alone. Logically, she knew that Roman would rather die than put them in danger, but she was really wary of what was happening anyway. 

She sighed. 

Hearing footsteps she glanced to the side of her, noticing Virgil Sanders coming near her in her brothers letterman jacket. 

“Yo, Dark and Emo,” she smirked at him, “Heard you had some fun times at the football game.” 

“Shut up. Does everyone in town know?” Virgil asked, plopping down running a hand through his grape locks. 

“Just about everyone, yeah. It’s a pretty small town dude, what did you think would happen.” 

Virgil grumbled to himself, “For no one but those at the game to know, for starters.” 

He turned to her, motioning to her black eye,  “Your dad do that to your face?” 

“Yep. My brother was… home late.” Annalise said, not looking at him, “I don’t really get my brother to be honest.” 

“Care to elaborate?” 

“Aww, common now, Vampire Knight, you know that’s not how this works. So I tell my tragedy you tell yours?” She glanced at him for a second before looking up at the sky, “Something's clearly on your mind.” 

Virgil sighed, but nodded. 

“Well…” She started, “My brother is one of the best people ever. To exist. But I just- I don’t get him. I don’t understand him at all. He deserves to be happy but I’m so scared he’s going to be to busy to help- and I know that’s illogical because he would never but damn it feels like it. What’s even more is that… well… he still wants to believe that our father could change. He’s never going to change. He’s always been an abusive asshole and is always going to be an abusive asshole! I’m so- so- gah! Angry! I’m angry! I’m angry at my dad! I’m angry at my brother for thinking he’s going to change! I’m angry at everything! And I don’t know what to do.” 

She wiped some tears off her face, “I don’t know what to do and I’m angry and scared. I want to get help but let’s be real- the system isn’t nice and we’d all get separated. My sisters could never be able to be separated, they depend on each other and we all depend on R- my brother for about everything. And he needs us.” 

Virgil was quiet. She was right, to be honest. The CPS in their town was pretty awful about keeping families together- he would know. He was in the system in this town until he was eight, and it fucked him up. Badly. He was still feeling the effects of it, to be honest. He was just lucky to find a safe environment eventually. He didn’t know if these kids would be that lucky, especially if they got split up. 

He sighed, “Look, kid, I can’t promise that you’re gonna be okay. But this brother of yours sounds like he would do anything to help you and keep everyone around you safe. I think you should talk to him about how your feeling. Maybe he knows how to help. It’s gonna get better. It always does.” 

“Thanks, Fall out Joy,” She hiccuped, “Thanks.” 

“No problem kid.” 

Annalise sighed, wiping tears off her face, “Either way. That’s my sob story. Where’s yours?”

“Mine sounds stupid compared to yours,” Virgil looked away, “But I’m just. Nervous. About all of this… Roman he… he makes me feel calm. I’m pretty sure it’s because he accepts that I’m anxious and tries to help, you know? But he makes me feel safe and calm. But everyone else in that hell hole? I don’t have any friends. The closest things I’ve had to friends is Roman and he’s now my boyfriend. But things are changing and I don’t know if I’m ready for it. Some people who barely tolerated me before are now trying to be my friend and I’m just- I don’t know how to feel about it. Any of it. And I just, I don’t know if I’m actually good for him. Is he going to get judged because he’s dating me? Is he going to get made fun of? I just don’t know.”

“But you love him right? Roman I mean.” 

“Yeah. Kinda. We’ve only been dating for a day, you know?” 

“You liked him for longer.” 

“Shut up,” Virgil growled at her, pouting, “No one needs to know.” 

“I’m thinking you should follow your own advice,” Annalise stood up stretching for a moment, “Well, I’m gonna bop. My brother will probably be wanting me home by now.” 

“Is your dad home?” 

“No,” she said, “He bounced. He’ll probably be gone for a day at least, but I’m thinking that’s alright. As long as he doesn’t hurt the twins I’m thinking it’s all right.” 

Virgil nodded, “Alright kid. Keep safe.” 

“See ya, Storm Cloud.” 

Virgil watched her go, anxious feeling remaining in his chest. He still didn’t know her name. 

Annalise walked away from her brothers boyfriend. She was kinda playing with Fire, wasn’t she? Telling Virgil about their homelife while he was dating her brother. But it was nice. It was kinda like having a friend. She really didn’t have any friends either but this was kinda like friendship. She sighed, taking out her phone, “Hey Ro. I’m heading home now. I need to talk to you when I get there okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and spoilers!! Logan is in the next chapter!!
> 
> Also!! Follow my Sanders sides blog! It’s RoyalRoman!


	12. Authors note!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a note!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha I’m sorry

Hey guys! I just wanna apologize the lack of update today and yesterday. I’m currentky on vacation and don’t have as much time for writing as I want. I’m finally getting around to the next chapter, I promise. I don’t know when it will come out though. 

I apologize! 

Also, I’d also like to add on a few important story details: 

1\. Every single child of The Princeton Family has a family name. 

2\. Roman and crew are not the only ones in the story that have had to deal with abuse, and this will come into play with how certain characters interact with them. 

3\. Kylee and Virgil will eventually be friends but probably not by the end of this fic. 

4\. I’ve been considering making this fic a series in order to include moments that I won’t be able to include in this fic- INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TOO: Patton and Logan’s story, Virgil’s Adoption, Annalise getting into a physical fist fight with someone and Roman having to patch her up, Tia and Luna’s perspective. 

5\. Luna is actually the twin that calls the shots in the twins world because Tia cracks under the slightest bit of pressure. Luna is like.. the head mobster and Tia is an enforcer. The entire world would literally burn and crumble if Luna decided to hate it. But she really wants to be like Roman, and be a princess. 

6\. Roman and Virgil are both December babies, but like. The first week of December. Roman was born on December 2nd and Virgil was born on December 5th. 

7\. Half of the characters in this fic are references to other media! Except Kylee, she’s a reference to my friend. 

8\. Roman doesn’t handle any of this well. At all. 

 

Alroghty!! Well I’m gonna go work on the fic, and I hope an update is up soon, but I thought I’d give y’all this in order to actually put something out there. If you or someone you know is dealing with abuse, please please please contact the proper authorities and get help. 

Also!! Follow my Sanders side side blog!! It’s royalroman on tumblr! This fic will be posted in its entirety on here before I post it on tumblr however and stuff in this au will probably be posted there then on here. 


	13. Chapter Twelve: Worthless Logic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan Sanders did not get confused by many things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent all night finishing this! A Logan centric chapter was really hard to write for me because there is a lot to his character that Roman and Virgil don’t know and they’ve had the majority of the perspective in this fic so far. This chapter kinda goes into his brain and thinking while still kinda focusing on his want to help Roman. 
> 
> This chapter is a lot of Logan and me feeling out Logicality because it’s beautiful. 
> 
> I also wanna apologize for the wait as this chapter took a whopping three days for me to actually make and publish. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
> Implied Abuse  
> Mentioned past abuse  
> Mentioned Emotional abuse

Logan Sanders did not get confused by many things. He was a logical man, with a masters degree under his belt. He had been asked to teach in a few colleges but had turned it down in order to start a family with Patton and their son. To say that he was smart wasn’t doing him justice, because he wasn’t smart, he was brilliant. At least everyone told him that. His parents had constantly told him that.  But considering that they had also told him that he was a failure and a disappointment any time he did something they deemed unperfect, he didn’t really hold their opinion to be true.

Logan Sanders didn’t get confused by many things. There were only a handful of times in his life that he could actually consider himself confused. And a majority of the time when he was confused, Patton was involved. When he had first started to like Patton he was confused because he had assumed he was Aro-Ace. Turned out he was just Demi. When he had opened up his feelings to Patton he had been confused because Patton had cried- tears of joy, but tears no less. When he told Patton that he sometime wondered if his parents valued his achievements more than they valued his life, he had been confused because he didn’t know what to do. Patton cried and told him that his parents were neglecting him when he wasn’t perfect. When he told said Parents of his relationship with Patton and got slapped for it, he had been confused. Because how could anyone think loving Patton Sanders was wrong? But right now, Logan was confused for an entirely different reason than the constant anomaly that was his husband. He was completely and utterly confused about Roman Princeton.

Roman Princeton was a good person. A kind hearted boy who loved Virgil and genuinely tried to help. Logan was aware that he was harsh on the boy, but a part of him felt like he had to be. After all, freshman year he had hurt Virgil badly. Sophomore year however, he had chosen to save his son from many a fight. But that hasn’t been enough to put away Logan’s panic mode. It was only after he had started truly teaching Roman Sanders that he realized there was much more than reached the eye to the boy. He was incredibly clever, cunning, and had a tendency to be charming. He just never applied himself to any of his school work. For the longest time he had thought it was because Roman was busy with everything outside of school. It was common knowledge that he was in several clubs as well as maintaining a job at the local dinner. But now he had reason to suspect something bigger was going on.

Something that he wasn’t entirely sure on how to deal with. From the looks of it, it seemed as if Romans father was abusive. Logan was no stranger to abuse. For years his family neglected him emotionally and only gave him attention when he achieved something in academics. If he wasn’t perfect he was ignored. That had all was to him being cold and calculating and unfeeling for the longest time. Logan was lucky, however, because he had Patton who helped show him that what his parents were doing was in fact abuse. And by the time he realized it he was already in the age where he could help himself out of a bad situation. Roman’s situation however… was a bit more complicated.

Roman had three younger siblings. While Logan has never met the twins, he had met Annalise, who was head strong and bold and so very much like her brother in many ways. And from the way she acted, it told him a lot.

His original suspension about the two of them being the primary caregivers was semi-correct. Annalise was very very very dependent on her older sibling in order to truly function. She had ditched school in order to bring him a bag, and he’s always the first person she calls. He saw how panicked she was the night the twins had run away, and what confused him even more was how she cried after they didn’t find the twins at the park and said that she just wanted her older brother. It seemed to him that if Annalise was so dependent on Roman, then chances were that the younger siblings were just as dependent. So it was highly likely that Roman was the primary caregiver in the household.

That said a lot. What said even more was how Roman has told Patton that everything was fine.

As much as Logan hated it, he couldn’t act on his and Patton’s theory until they had solid evidence that Romans father was hitting them. The bruises on Roman and Annalise weren’t exactly enough considering Romans track record with fights and Annalise’s track record of getting beat up during school- a fact he had been shocked to learn from the middle school when he had asked about the girl to investigate the Princeton’s Home life. The twins didn’t even realize that the person hurting them was their father, referring to him as ‘the evil’ of ‘that man.’ He was confused.

He was confused on why Roman would deny an offer to help.

He and Patton had spent the entire night talking what they had both seen in hushed voices over their bed. They didn’t know if they should tell Virgil or not, or what to do. They couldn’t report it without proper evidence because of Roman and Annalise’s records, and they didn’t even know for certain that it was actually happening. Logically, Logan knew that telling Virgil might help, but a part of him was worried. He knew that Virgil would worry about it and try to help Roman by intervening at Romans household which could end up with everyone getting hurt. He didn’t know how to approach this situation and he was confused.

So here he sat in the last three minutes of his eighth period, staring down his laptop screen. Most of the students were on their phones or taking to each other allowing for a perfect time to think. He cleared his throat, “Mister Sanders, see me after class.”

Roman looked up, nodding as the class went quieted. Logan forced down a sigh, knowing that the entire class assumed that Logan was mad at Roman for kissing Virgil at the football game. While he wasn’t entirely excited that his son was dating, he respected Virgil’s choice to date. He actually found it very commendable that Roman had chosen to ask them for permission.

The bell went off and most of his students raced out the door, Roman hanging back. He turned towards Logan, “Yes, sir?”

“I would like to speak with you,” Logan gestured to the chair by his desk, “Please, sit.”

Roman day down, a confused look crossing his face, “If this is about me not putting in effort in this class, I swear I am Mr. Sanders.”

“It’s not about that.”

“Oh,” Roman shifted, “Is this about me and Virgil?”

Logan raised an eyebrow, “As long as you make him happy I have no problem with your relationship. And besides, I don’t bring up personal stuff at school unless it’s of certain business.”

“Alright. What’s this about then?”

“I am confused about something Roman,” Logan pushes his glasses up, “I want you to answer me honestly. Are you being abused?”

Roman was silent, and Logan felt the need to go on, “I ask this question out of concern for your well being. I know that you don’t particularly like me or value my class, however, I am very concerned about you. You come to class with bruises continuously, as well as show signs that align with emotional abuse. In order to make sure that your siblings are safe I must ask-“

“Mr. Sanders, I hate to interrupt, but i have to go.” Roman stood suddenly tense and slightly angry looking, voice steely, “Play rehearsal.”

“There’s no play rehearsals on Monda-“

“Then I have to go get the twins! Either way, I have to go. Goodbye.”

And with that Roman grabbed his bag, and bolted out of his room.

Logan felt a sinking feeling in his chest. He hadn’t really realized he had say anything wrong. But Romans body language and voice said differently. He stared out the empty door of his classroom, slightly thankful that no clubs take place on mondays as he stood paces the room for a moment, heart in his throat. He had genuinely been trying to offer Roman help but he supposed he might have said something wrong.

He sat down at his desk, thinking over the interaction. Roman hadn't actually said anything regarding if he was being abused or not. He had only interrupted him after Logan had brought up his siblings. Maybe he felt as if Logan was accusing him of not protecting his older siblings? But that didn’t make any sense. None of this really made any sense.

He really didn’t understand why Roman was upset with him.

He really had wanted to help. He rubbed his temple, trying to ease away the horrible feeling of being a mistake in his chest. He had meant to offer help to Roman not upset him to the point where the teenager felt the need to run away from him. He dragged a hand through his hair. He had papers to grade.

 

Patton didn’t usually worry when his husband was home late. Logan liked working and teaching and was one of the few people Patton knew that actually enjoyed grading papers. His husband was a hard worker- even if Patton sometimes got upset about it, because Logan absolutely refused to take care of himself at times- and Patton was extremely proud of him. So when four fifty rolled around and Patton and Virgil came home, he wasn’t surprised that Logan wasn’t Home yet. At Five thirty, he wasn’t worried yet, though he had found it odd that his husband hadn’t texted him. He shot Logan a text reminding him to come home for family dinner and started getting ready to cook.

By the time dinner rolled around Patton was actually very worried. Logan never ignored his texts and especially never ignored his messages about family dinner. When Virgil had come downstairs, texting Roman with a small grin on his face, he had looked up and been confused. It wasn’t like his Pa to miss out on family dinner. It was something both his parents emphasized. He turned to his dad, “Is Pa still at work?”

“He must be,” Patton frowned glancing at his son, “Why don’t you take your food upstairs and I’ll go call him. We can reschedule family dinner.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

Patton nodded, biting his lip as he checked his phone. Still no word from Logan. He called, but it went straight to voicemail, a sign that Logan was still in the school, a place with terrible call reception. Patton sighed, shooting a text to Virgil that he was going to go find Logan. He bundled up in his coat, and made his way through the thirty minute walk to the high school.

By the time he got there the sun was setting and it was almost dark entirely, but he recognized the car in the front on the school in the teachers lot. He felt worry spike through him as he walked through the front door and towards Logan’s classroom. It was the only one the lights were still in on. Logan was sitting at his desk, tie askew and glasses off. He had obviously been running his hands through his hair as he graded papers because it was a tad bit messy. The same kind of messy that reminded Patton of their college years. It was also worrying- extremely so. Logan didn’t usually run his hands through his hair unless he was upset about something.

Patton knocked gently against the open door, “Lo?”

Logan looked up, startled. He smiled at Patton though, weak and distressed, “Patton. Hello.”

“Oh, honey,” Patton said walking towards him, “What’s wrong?”

Logan met him halfway, “I’m confused. I’m conflicted. I washing trying to help however it seems I’ve made everything worse. I messed up. I’m a mistake.”

“Logan Eduardo Sanders,” Patton’s voice was stern as he hugged his husband tight, “We’ve gone over this. You’re not a mistake just because you mess up. We all mess up once and awhile, and you’re only human, no matter how much you want to be a robot at times. It’s okay to be confused and conflicted and it’s okay to mess up.”

Logan nodded, silently gripping onto his husband. The duo stood in silence, as Logan basked in the warmth of his husband. Patton spoke again, softer this time, “I know you know you’re not a mistake, Lo. What brought this on, honey?”

“I just,” Logan sighed, resting his forehead on Patton, “This whole situation with Roman is bad, Patton. I just. It reminds me so much of my parents. They never hit me like that but you know they neglected me, and it hurts me to think Roman and his siblings are going through that. And I’m trying to help. I’m trying, Patton I really am, but I sat roman down and asked him if he was being abused and he bolted- he tensed up and he bolted. I don’t- I don’t know how I messed up badly enough that Roman bolted.”

“Abuse is a hard topic, sweetheart,” Patton said, “But Roman not wanting to talk about it isn’t you ‘messing up badly’, it’s Roman not being ready or able to talk about it.”

“I just-“

Patton shushed him, “You, sir, are trying your hardest to help a situation where we can’t really help. You’re trying your best, Logan, I know you are. And that’s enough.”

“But it’s not enough,” Logan muttered, his grip tightening, “What’s the point of having all this knowledge, teaching all these kids, when I can’t help them?”

“You are helping them. Just because you can’t see how you are helping them doesn’t mean you aren’t helping them,” Patton argued against his husband.

Logan stood in silence, looking at his husband. Patton looked up and Logan was taken away by how beautiful Patton was. Had always been. Even in the darkest, most dire situations, Patton was always helping him find the light in situations. He didn’t deserve such an amazing person. He titled Patton’s head up, kissing him softly.

He pulled away, “I’ll tell you everything that happened with Roman at dinner, okay love?”

“Of course,” Patton blushed happily at the pet name he didn’t usually get to hear, “I made spaghetti.”

“That sounds amazing.”


	14. Chapter Thirteen: On the first day of Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> December First hit Roman like a train wreck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is awful. I’ve kinda lost all confidence in my writing, and this was supper rushed and horrible. I hate this. I hate everything about this chapter. This is the worst chapter in the entire damn fic. I’m sorry guys. 
> 
> I’m kind of stressed. I want to be updating regularly but time is my enemy. I’m really really sorry. 
> 
> Trigger warnings:   
> -Impled Abuse   
> -Implied Emotkonal Abuse   
> -Past Death   
> -Petty arguments

December first hit Roman like a train wreck. His birthday was never a good time for him, even when he was younger and his biggest worries were if Spider-Man or The Goblin would win in that stupid Spider-Man movie he used to watch. Something about the first day of December put him on more edge than most things could all year. It had only gotten worse as he grew older, for slightly obvious reasons. He usually was trying to help his sisters when his birthday came around and for some reason his father was always five times as harsh. It was like he recognized that it was his sons birthday but it just made him hate everything a lot more. 

So when December first reared its ugly little head, Roman was not happy about it. He was not happy about it when his father came home at one AM on December first, slurring about how useless and stupid Roman was, failing to hit him but managing to fall asleep as his body fell from lack of balance. He was not happy about it when Tia woke up at four AM on December first, crying because her favorite tv show character was being really mean to Luna in her dream- which then woke Luna up who had had the same dream- and now they were both crying. He was not happy about it when Annalise woke up at six AM on the dot on December first, whispering a happy birthday to him before rushing to the toilet where she proceeded to vomit. After she spent about twenty minutes doing that, Roman demanded she stay home from school. After a brief argument, Annalise won out with the argument that their dad would be home all day, since he was drunker than a doorknob last night. So begrudgingly he got dressed for the day, as everyone else got ready around him. 

He and the twins parted ways with a sick Annalise at the front of their Apartment,  much to Romans displeasure. He really didn’t want his sister to go to school today, but the alternative had been slightly worse in his own personal opinion. He wasn’t happy about it. He was even more unhappy with the Twins who decided that it was a perfect time to argue about the princess hood of Mulan. So now he had a massive headache and he was worried about Annalise. By the time that he reached the Highschool, he was ready to throw a fit. He was literally going to throw a fit if something more happened. 

He spotted the Virgil, sighing in a brief relief spotting his boyfriend. He proceeded to hug the shorter male from behind, slumping and resting his head on Virgil’s shoulders, “I’m dead inside.” 

To Virgil’s credit, he didn’t startle or squirm, he just leaned into his boyfriends touch, “But if you're dead I can’t kiss you.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Roman sighed, “Either way, I said inside not outside.” 

“Touché,” Virgil chuckled a tad bit, turning in Romans grip to look at him, “Either way, what’s biting you?”

“You hopefully.” 

“You’re gross. Now what’s actually happening?” 

Roman put his hand on his forehead, in a woe is me gesture, “The twins! Annalise! The lot of them!” 

“Yeah, I’m not buying it,” Virgil snorted, “You love your sisters more than anything. What’s actually up?” 

Roman sighed, “Just because I love them doesn’t mean they don’t drive me insane. The twins are fighting because Luna thinks that Mulan is a General not a Princess but Tia thinks she’s a General Princess and neither of them are winning that battle. Plus Tia has been having nightmares and when Tia has nightmares, Luna has nightmare. God. And Annalise is a human dumpster fire who thinks it’s okay to go to school sick just because… she has a test! That’s not even a good excuse!” 

“She’s sick?” 

“She woke up this morning, wished me a happy birthday, and the barfed,” Roman groaned, “And no one could convince her to stay home.” 

Virgil raised a brow, “Is it your birthday today?” 

Roman tensed and nodded. God this is exactly what he was hoping to avoid. Almost no one knew his birthday, because he never had any birthday parties and never talked about it. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Virgil asked, hurt shining through his voice. Not a lot, but just enough to make Roman feel kind of bad.

Roman looked away, “I didn’t think it was important.” 

The school bell rang and the people around them moved towards the doors but neither Roman nor Virgil moved. There was something tense within the conversation, and Roman was not liking it. It was bitter, and jittery, and it wasn’t as glittery as Virgil always made him feel. It was… kinda harsh. 

“Why not?” Virgil’s voice was calm, but Roman had been in Logan Sanders class room when he was mad and it was the exact same vibe. 

Roman huffed, a little annoyed, “I just don’t like my birthday.” 

Virgil’s entire face softened, but for some reason that made Roman slightly more irritated with his boyfriend, “Oh. Any reason?” 

“December first,” Roman breathed, a little snappy but not much, “It’s just always an awful day.” 

“It can’t be awful if it’s the day you were born on,” Virgil joked, trying to make light of the situation. 

Roman ran his right hand through his hair, “It’s pretty fucking awful, Virgil.”

“You don’t have to get mad,” Virgil spoke, tensing up, “Just cause you’re in a pushy mood doesn’t mean you can be mean to the rest of us-“ 

“God! I’m not trying to be mean! You’re the one getting upset over the fact that I didn’t tell you today was my birthday!” 

Virgil snapped at him, “Because I thought you just didn’t want to share that information with me! But now I realize you’re just being a bitch!” 

“Don’t. Call. Me. A. Bitch.” Romans voice was slightly dark as memories of his father rose up in his throat. He pushed them down hard, “This is stupid.” 

“You’re right! This is!”

And with that Roman watched his boyfriend stalk into the school. He wanted to scream. 

It wasn’t his fault Virgil was getting snappy and upset over nothing. It wasn’t his fault that the twins had been arguing. It wasn’t his fault that Annalise was sick. It wasn’t his fault that his father’s two favorite names for him were bitch and fag. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault. 

The thoughts raced through his head as he walked away from the high school. He wasn’t dealing with this. He wasn’t going to deal with this. So he walked away from the school, from his boyfriend, from everything. He wasn’t dealing with this. So he ran. The one thing he was good at. 

He ran past the gates of the highschool, past the elementary school. He charged through the empty streets, last Foxys. He found himself at the park.

He hated his birthday. The fight with Virgil was just another one on his long long list of fucking awful things his birthday encompassed. He hated his birthday. 

He always had. 

His mom had loved his birthday.

His mom thought that December was the perfect month to be born in. She told him that him being born on December first was a sign that he was royalty. He never liked his birthday- he didn’t like the cold, and he certainly did like snow which always came around his birthday when he was younger- but his mom loved it. She had always danced with him in the snow. But Roman had completely hated his birthday. 

It also didn’t help that his mom passed away at midnight, December first. 

She held on for a month before she died. A month. The twins were born prematurely on October thirty first, two months before they were due. They had performed an emergency C-section, because Luna was facing the wrong way. When both girls were born their mother held onto them for a few minutes. She got a few minutes. A few minutes with her babies before complications arose even more. She slipped into a medically induced coma moments after that.

Annalise didn’t remember it but their father had been so sure that their mother would make it. He had smiled at his baby girls, taking them home from the hospital, whispering about how happy he was they were there. How their mama would join them in the house soon and they’d be a family. How she was gonna wake up soon. Roman had been so so sure that she would be fine. 

She wasn’t. 

Her heart failed exactly at midnight, on December first. They didn’t find out till six AM. 

His father had been broken. The twins hadn’t realized that they’d lost their mom. Annalise had been so so quiet. And Roman. Roman was angry. At the world. At his mom. At death.

Roman sat at the swing, head in his hands. God. He was so upset. About this. About that. About Virgil. About his mom. About his birthday. 

For the first time that month he cried. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry. This is awful and I’m sorry that I can’t produce something better. I’m really upset about how bad this chapter is.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: The Villian.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman Argo Princeton swallowed his liquid poison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another low quality chapter for a low quality fic. I’m sorry guys. I really did try. 
> 
> This is from the father’s perspective. Please be safe when reading this. He was always a piece of shit, even if Roman didn’t realize it. 
> 
> Trigger warnings:  
> -Abuse.  
> -Implied Abuse.  
> -alcholishm  
> -Homophobia

Roman Argo Princeton swallowed down his liquid poison. It no longer burned the back of his throat like it had the first time he drank it. He was practically immune to it. But there was a comfort in the buzz that surrounded him. The bar was a safe spot for him, he practically lived in it after work. Here in the low lighting of the bar at three o’clock in the afternoon on the day his wife died, he was free. Free of work. Free of guilt. Free of those wretched awful kids. His children were awful. They took the one good thing in his life and snuffed it out. He hated them. He hated all of them. They took his Alexandra.

He loved Alexandra Elizabeth Sanchez with every fiber of his being. She was the best thing in the world- the best thing that had happened to him. She had always seen the good in him, insisting that his drinking problem could be helped. She helped. She got him sober and it was the happiest time in his life. She was so so proud when he went three years sober. And he was so so happy that she said yes when he asked her to marry him.

She was beautiful. The kindest person he ever knew. Her tan skin, dark brown hair, and emerald eyes, she looked like a movie star and spoke like a Disney princess. She was everything anyone could ever want. She was perfection in one person. She always left her hair to fall wavy like it was beach dried, but it was almost effortless. Her voice was a soft lull against his skin constantly, soft and kind. He couldn’t remember a time in his life with her were she lost her temper or raised her voice. She didn’t raise her voice against people who were ugly to her, she didn’t raise her temper at the racists who yelled slurs at her. She had once told him she couldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of being proved right about her. He didn’t really get it.

She had been so excited to start a family. Truth to be told, he never wanted kids, but he figured that she would take care of them.

He hated his second child least out of the four of those selfish dickheads. Annalise Eliza Princeton was a horrid awful bitch. But out of all those little fucking assholes, she was the one that he could stand. She was an absolute bitch, but at least she had a temper. At least she spoke back. At least she had a spirit. The rest of those cowards never did. Never tried to stand up for themselves or fight back. Even the fag stopped trying. But Annalise was still a spit fire.

She had been a spit fire all her life. Every day when she was younger she had surprised him about how much fonder he was of her compared to his first born. Maybe because she was constantly personality. She was sassy and rude and funny. She constantly challenged both him and Alexandra with her attitude and he found it entertaining. As a child she was constantly pushing her useless brother to be better than she was because she was talented, ultimately so. She had become a disgrace though.

He hated disobedience. He really hated it. But there was something about his oldest daughter that appeased him. She was a bitch, and deserved every bit and insult he threw at her. But at least she fought back. At least she wasn’t a coward. Maybe she started hating him, but that was all and fair, considering that he was probably the worst thing in her life. He acknowledged that much. But he was also not about to let his god awful kids ruin everything like they had ruined his wife. His beautiful kind amazing wife that they had stolen from him. That they had ruined. But out of all his children, Annalise had ruined her less. By the time she came around, Alexandra was already slightly ruined from their first child. And the last two children were her death warrant.

Tiana wasn’t as bad as her twin. Tiana never made a sound the first two years of her life. Or if she did, he never heard it. She forced his older offspring to grow the fuck up and to realize the world around them. Just because she was a baby child who needed attention and care and whatever. To be honest, he didn’t really care about her at all.

She was insignificant, totally and completely. She was completely and obviously worthless, cowering behind her twin and their older siblings. Obviously she was a fucking coward just like everyone else in the family. But he rarely interacted with her, didn’t see a point in talking to a worthless, insignificant, maggot. He had tried to hit her the other night, because she was trying to talk back to him. To be less of an irrelevant bitch. But that’s what she was, an irrelevant bitch. She was just like Annalise but not like Annalise at all. At least Annalise had balls. Tia was practically afraid of her own shadow.

She had been removed first, the one that was less of a risk to his wife. She had been so small, so fragile, and he felt completely indifferent towards her. Of course at the time he had been overjoyed that it was all almost over. His wife had been happy too, holding her like she was the most precious thing. Small tufts of blonde hair, he had found adorable at the time. Looking back on it, she was ugly. All children were. Especially the children that took his Alexandra from him.

His fourth daughter was the devil incarnate, he was sure of that. Luna Minerva had been a small, small, baby with blonde tufts as well and had been so fragile at the time. Now he wished that she never had made it at all. Luna was awful. Luna was all of their problems boiled into one. He didn’t understand how any of his other children were able to see her as anything other than the wretched monster that took their mother. She was Satan. She was the biggest evil in the world. If she hadn’t been positioned the wrong way when Alexandra was in labor then none of those would have happened. His dear Alexandra would still be here. She would be alive and safe in his arms. Not dead just because some fucking little brat was born the wrong way.

Alexandra loved Luna. She held her for a moment and she was so happy. She had told him that she was so happy that both her baby girls were okay. That they would be okay. But complications arose, and things went south. Luna killed Alexandra by just existing and for that he would never forgive her for what she did to Alexandra. He would never forgive any of them. But he didn’t talk to her. He didn’t even acknowledged she existed. After all, if you acknowledge the devil it gains a hold over you and no way in hell was he giving her any power at all. He hated her. He absolutely hated her, and all she embodied. He hated her. He was sure that he had never hated anything more than her. Maybe one person.

Roman Argo Princeton, Junior, was the worst person in the entirety of the world as far as he was concerned. He never wanted a faggot son. He never really wanted a son in general. Roman had always been a fruity little fag and he was not okay with it. He was an annoying little twat and youth, and a fucking full blown bitch baby. Alexandra had doted on their first child, absolutely in love with him because she finally had a son. And she thought that son was amazing and beautiful and good, but how wrong she had been. Roman was nothing but a fucking disappointment. A fucking faggot.

He had tried to be kind to Roman in Roman’s youth, but his son was always preferred their mother. And it ruined Alexandra in his opinion. His wife was still perfect, but now her time was less devoted to him and more devoted to their bratty fucking son. And that was annoying. It was even more annoying how much Roman loved the attention, loved the affection. It became even more hindersom when Alexandra taught Roman Spanish, because now they could talk in a language that he himself couldn’t speak. It was almost like she was the sun and Roman was the earth because he revolved around her and suddenly his wife seemed to forget that he existed. But they were still happy, especially when his son was asleep or at his grandparents.

His faggot son admitted to being a faggot when he was fourteen and he lost it. All of his children deserved the beatings they got, but Roman deserved the very first beating every time he got hit. He had almost hospitalized his disgraced son and that was the best thing he had ever done. He would do it again in a heartbeat. He should.

The shame of everything was that Roman- the faggot disgrace- reminded him of his mother. They had the same green eyes, same tan skin, same wavy brown hair. It made him want to hit him even more. Why the hell should he look like Alexandra? Why the hell should he be blessed with her charm when he helped bring her end. After all, Alexandra has originally just wanted one child- but she loved Roman so much she wanted another one and then another one and that other one turned out to be two more and those two brought her down.

“Yo, Princeton,” The bartender- a beautiful young woman- spoke towards him, “Tell congrats to your son.”

“For what?”

The bartender raised her eyebrow, “The football game? His boyfriend kissed him, it was pretty romantic. It’s been the talk of the town. But I just wanted to tell him congrats, cause he both won the game and the boy. Pretty iconic, if you ask me.”

Roman froze. The faggot had a boyfriend. The faggot had kissed a boy in front of the entire town. At a football game of all things. He swore under his breath. He couldn’t believe his son was disgracing the Princeton’s name by doing that queer shit in front of everybody. He slapped the money down on the bar, turning and leaving.

He was angry as he stormed down the street. Turned out the kid needed to be re-taught a lesson that he had assumed Roman learned a long time ago. But a re-teaching would be necessary, he could see that now. He could see exactly what he needed to do to that fag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry it’s so bad. I said that the next chapter was gonna be better but it’s kinda worse in my opinion


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Little Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annalise felt like shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god. This took me forever to figure out. Thank you so much to those who’ve read this story and stuck by it even though the quality keeps going down. I’m hapoy to say that this chapter is a lot better than the last few. It’s still not good by any means, but I really like parts of it. It’s a little bit fast paced, be warned. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings:  
> -Abuse.  
> -Graphic Violence  
> -Major Physical Abuse  
> -Annalise throws up like twice  
> -Abuse.  
> -so much abuse  
> -please please don’t read the bottom half of this chapter after “Annalise sighed, “Roman, don’t overthink-“ if you have had violent abusive thing happen before because it’s pretty violent.  
> -almost strangulation  
> -gun

Annalise felt like shit. Mainly because she was sick, but also because her brother was probably hating himself right about now and there was nothing she could do about it. She knew his birthday was always hard on him, but she had a sinking feeling that this one was going to be worse than the others. Though maybe that sinking feeling was due to the fact that she was sick and currently in a room alone with Christian mother fucking Fly. Though she was pointedly ignoring that asshole in favor for thinking about life and doodling on the corner of her paper.

Class was going to be out in ten minutes. She kind of found it stupid, but the middle school got out at 2:50 opposed to the highschool and elementary schools 3:30. She didn’t know why they would do that, it wasn’t really necessary and it was kind of annoying on the days she had to get the twins. It was also a complete and total life saver, considering that she rarely got time to herself. When her dad was out of the house, the extra forty minutes was a lifesaver of alone time and freedom. She coughed into her hand,  the hacking that had been happening throughout the day. Her lungs felt on the verge of collapse as she hacked up a storm, wanting to disappear at the glare Fly gave her. She was not in the mood for his fucking bullshit when she was sick and upset.

She glared back at him, “Stop glaring at me.”

“Stop coughing then,” Fly spat at her, “You’re spreading disease.”

“You are so fucking lucky that I’m sick or I would deck you,” She muttered towards herself, another cough storm blossoming in her chest.

Fly stood up, “Fuck you!”

“You fucking wish,” She snorted, trying to force herself to not cough.

Flys face was red with anger, and he stomped toward her. She bolted up, groaning when nausea hit her in a wave as Fly pushed her down, “You know what? You’re a fucking dyke! An illegal cuban dkye with a faggot brother! Rot in hell with your bitch mother!”

Annalise didn’t know how she got on her feet so quick, not processing the blur of the world around her. She pulled her left fist back, and swung, hitting Christian Fly square in the jaw. He stumbled back eyes wide, as he huffed pulling his fist back. She ducked, another wave of nausea racking her body and she made a split second decision to run. To bolt out of there. Her head screamed at her in protest and she was pretty sure she was going to vomit as she bolted out of the classroom and down the hallway.

She tripped curling up in the bushes outside of the school, upchucking her lunch just as the bell went of with a ding. She picked herself up, wiping her mouth with a napkin she had in her backpack from lunch. People started making their way out of the door and she continued walking the two blocks too her house.

She was fucking pissed. She was angry at Fly for insulting her mother, and Roman, and she was angry that she was sick. She was mad her mom died and let them with that monster. She was mad Roman wouldn’t let her help. She was mad at her father for being a fucking prick. She was mad at everything. And she kinda hated it. The two blocks seemed so short as she stormed up the stairs. She didn’t really want to be in this house at the moment. She didn’t really wanna be anywhere but away. Away from this town, this house. Away.

She walked through the door, pausing upon seeing Roman at the kitchen table. Her brother was hunched over, small sobs exiting his mouth, as he cradled his head in his hands. He looked like he’d been like that forever. The bruises he had been gathering the past few weeks showed on his skin like makeup, except when the tears hit them they just stayed the same. She dropped her school bag rushing to her older brother, holding him in her arms, “Are you okay?”

“No,” his voice was quiet as he leaned into her touch, “I’m not okay.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Do you want me to make something to eat while we talk?”

“....Yes.”

She set to work, grabbing the ingredients to make maple milk and cookies. She placed the cookies in the oven, turning to Roman with the two drinks. She smiled at him softly, handing him the bigger cup, “So, Chiquita, tell me what’s wrong?”

“Do you think mom,” Roman wasn’t looking at her, “Do you think Mom would be proud of me.”

It was said so much more like a statement than a question, and a part of Annalise knew that Roman had already decided what the answer was. And by the look on his face she knew it was one she didn’t agree with. She spoke softly, “Yes, I think-“

“But she wouldn’t. Look at me Anna,” he chuckled, something dark and full of sorrow, “I’m such a fucking mess. Even my own boyfriend thinks that.”

“That’s not true- and what do you mean Virgil-“

“Anna,” his tone was quiet, “I’m starting to think that everything I loves starts to hate me in the end and I’m…” He trailed off.

“But that’s not true,” Annalise spoke softly, “I love you, I adore you. Tia and Luna do to. Mom loved you so so much, and I guarantee Virgil loves you.”

Romans eyes darkened, “How would you know that?”

“I’ve spoke to him a few times… told him about myself. About Home.”

Roman jolted, “Annalise! You told him about dad?!”

“Yeah!” She spike quickly, “I did!”

“Holy shit. Holy shit. Do you know what’s going to happen if we go into the system, oh fuck, oh fuck.” Romans voice was panicked.

“He doesn’t know my name.”

“But he’s going to meet you eventually.”

“By then we’ll think of something.”

“We fucking better!”

Annalise coughed, hard and violent. She scrambled up and over to the sink, her throat burning as she threw up. Roman sunk into himself for a moment. He knew she was sick and yet here she was taking care of him. He stood, walking over to her and rubbing soothing circles on her back. When she was finished she grabbed a napkin, wiping her face. She leaned into her older brother for a moment, before reaching and turning the water on to wash the vomit down the sink. She glanced back at Roman, “It’s going to be okay.”

“I don’t know if it is anymore.”

“It will all be okay,” She glances at the oven timer, “After all, we have cookies.”

“After all we have cookies,” Roman echoed making a move to go sit down at the table as Annalise grabbed the oven mits, turning the oven off and grabbing the tray. She placed the cookies on a plate, bringing them over to her older brother.

“I’m sorry.”

She glanced at him, “Roman, you don’t have to be. You have no reason to be.”

Roman was quiet. He felt like he had every reason to be. Here he was, moping and grieving and complaining over shit, while his little sister was sitting there sick but doing all the work. He wasn’t a good older brother was he?? He wasn’t good at all. God he was a disgrace wasn’t he?

Annalise sighed, “Don’t over think-“

A pounding on the door stopped her in the middle of her sentence. They both turned, the door shaking with the force that the person trying to open it had. Finally the door screamed open, showing their father, anger in his eyes and a fist in his hand.

Annalise scrambled up, Roman doing the same the second his mind registered the image of their father storming towards them, more anger on his face than he had ever seen. He stepped in front of Annalise, pushing her away from the impending doom. His father took one looks at him and swung as hard as he could have, “You fucking fag!”

Roman went down, eyes fuzzing and his ears rang. His father landed a blow to the stomach, and Roman wanted to throw up. Holy fuck. The beatings had been bad lately but this was pure hatred. He couldn’t fucking breath, and his father was managing solid kicks to his lungs. He heard Annalise scream, and saw her trying to push their father away from Roman.

Their father turned to her, fist raised in anger, slamming it down onto her. She went down, as Roman scrambled up, cursing, as pain enveloped it body. His father beat him to the punch however, slamming a fist into his gut. His father grabbed his hair, slamming Romans face onto the table, shaking the entire table as a resuelto of the blow. Roman couldn’t tell if he was screaming of if it was Annalise.

His father pinned down his shoulder, and suddenly he didn’t need to know if he was screaming or not because he must have been. For a moment, Roman thought this was how he was going to die. His father beating his face in, while Annalise tried to pull him off of Roman. For a split second, he thought he was going to end and his only thoughts were, ‘I haven’t told Virgil I loved him.’ and ‘Oh god, the twins can’t lose me.’ But the sudden relaxation came crashing down. He was most likely going to die, wasn’t he?

He registered Annalise- his sweet baby sister, who used to wear her hair in braids and ask to paint his nails and cry at the villains in Disney movies- pull their father's hand away from Roman, only for the same hand to go back on her, grabbing onto her neck with a force that Roman was sure would bruise. He scrambled up, taking his father in a headlock. To his surprise his father slammed himself backward, slamming Roman onto the ground, however, it also released Annalise’s neck. She gasped for air, tears coming out of her eyes as she scrambled back from the fight.

Roman couldn’t focus. Couldn’t think. All he could feel was pain and the cold hands of his father wrapped around his neck.

This was it.

He thought of his mom first. She was beautiful and kind and amazing. She was all spirit and kindness. She was all fire and rage. She was gentle and nice and amazing. He didn’t deserve her as a mother.

He thought of the twins second. They had so much to learn and realize and he hated that they might have to grow up so fast. As fast as he did. As fast as Anna did. He loved them so so much. They made his day, half the time, with their bright smiles and clever minds. With cinnamon ice cream that he hated and they loved. With the Disney movies that he loved to share with them. God. He didn’t deserve them.

He thought of Anna third. She had given up so much, grown up so fast. Faster than he had. She was there constantly for him, there to help him succeed and create and grow. And he hoped he did the same for her. He loved his little sister so much. Even though she found herself unlovable a lot of the time, he had always thought that she was so so so much like their mom in so many amazing ways. She was their mother alive again. She was amazing and smart and clever and he was so, so, so, proud of her. And he wishes with all his heart that she will be happy. He never deserved a sister like her.

He thought of Virgil as his eyes went dark. He thought of the tentative friendship that blossomed into a crush so so quickly it was like he had already had a crush on him. He thought of Virgil’s laugh, chuckles and giggles that reminded him of sunshine and dying whales. He thought of how Virgil looked in his jacket the day of the football game. He thought of how Virgil knew him better than anyone else at the school despite the fact that they hadn’t been friends for a long time. He thought of how much he loved him. Cause that was the truth. He was in love with Virgil Sanders. In love with everything about Virgil Sanders.

His eyes went dark.

Suddenly, the hands on his throat released as Annalise let out a brutal scream tackling their father down. Roman saw a flash of metal. He screamed, loud and scared, “Anna! He’s got a gun! Run!”

Anna tensed turning to him like she didn’t understand. But she glanced back at her father, realizing that the cold metal he had in his hands now was a gun- seemingly materialized out of thin air.

She scrambled of their dad, turning to Roman trying to pull him up. But Roman couldn’t walk. He couldn’t do much more than sit up. Their father was slowly getting his groundings again. Roman spat at Annalise, “Anna, run. Get help. Please just get out of here.”

“I’ll get help,” Anna cursed, crying, “Just hang in there.”

With that she bolted out of the door.

Romans father stood. 

He pointed the gun at his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! 
> 
> I’ve been going through a really rough patch lately and I’m so so happy that I finally put pen to paper and made this. This story became a bit of a burden the last few chapters because I couldn’t figure out how to make it sound good- but I figured out how to make it sound decent at least! I really hope you guys like it. As always, hit me up at Lovelylangst or my Sanders Sides blog Royal Roman!


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Icky Gooey Tomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil hated waking up in a pool of blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooo this was a long time coming. I just started Sophmore year, and right out the bat I am,,,, swamped. Like. I wrote this in one sitting bc I coudln't handle writing it for a long period of time since I've been so busy. I'm really sorry about the wait. I also don't really know if I like this chap or not, so I might come back and change this. 
> 
> Also, guess what?? Virgil has been trans the whole time but I didn't really know how to put it in the story until this chapter. 
> 
> Either way! I want y'all to know that I love y'all for reading this fic even though its trash. And also, that the second I get on a normal schedule, I'm going to have a logicality fic in the works that's basically... something entirely different but really interesting. 
> 
> Trigger Warnings for this chapter:  
> -Abuse  
> -Implied Abuse  
> -Implied Trandphobia  
> -Implied Homophobia  
> -Gender Dysphoria

Virgil hated waking up in a pool of blood. Especially when he wasn’t prepared for that particular pool of blood because it wasn’t normal for him to get one a lot of the time, since he had been on T for a pretty long time. But alas, his body still hated him. So now that he Had a pad on, and his dysphoria was rampant, he was kinda mad. Just in general, at the world at his body. And he really really didn’t want to be existing at this particular moment.

It wasn’t just the early period, it was the fact that no matter the fact that he was wearing a binder he still felt too feminine for his body. And it was more than that too because he genuinely didn’t know how to think and what to feel and how to deal with this. He was snappy and rude and irritable and it was driving him to madness. Well, not madness. Anger, rage, instability, yes. But he was pretty sure that he wasn’t going mad yet.

He had snapped at his Dad, in the morning when he had come downstairs to see his dad humming and making breakfast. He thought that was pretty insane. Just getting angry at his happy father was way out of character for him, no matter what time of month it was. But it had just been, so annoying to hear him humming and see him dancing. He had just been so… happy. And Virgil had gotten mad, real fast. And seeing the hurt look on his dads face had immediately brought Virgil to tears.

Course, his father’s had immediately guessed what was up, and his dad had forgiven him. But it was the fact that he had gotten so snappy and mean and rude with his dads that had him upset. And it kinda broke him inside if he was honest.

And to be honest he was kind of upset. Like really upset. Something about the fact that Roman hasn’t told him it was his birthday bothered him.

Did Roman think he wouldn’t care? Did he think that Virgil wouldn’t wanna spend time with him on his birthday- that he wouldn’t wanna spend his birthday with him? Did he genuinely think that Virgil wouldn’t care at all? Because Virgil did care. He cared about Roman, a lot. He wanted to celebrate Romans life, and everything about Roman and wanted to spend time with Roman.  He didn’t get why Roman thought his birthday was awful. Birthdays were special, important, especially one as cool as seventeen.

After all, Roman could finally be the dancing queen now.

He frowned, remembering how angry Roman had been for a moment. It had immediately made him five times as mad, in a moment. Which probably wasn’t the best response to Romans temper, but in the moment he had just felt… hurt, and angry. Really hurt. Really angry.

But now, standing at the cafeteria door, he realized something. Roman must have ditched school. A feeling of dread pooled into his stomach, and he pivoted on his heels, tugging on the sleeves of his- well, Roman’s- jacket. Roman has either ditched or he was in the performing arts wing, which is where he went when he was upset in anyway.

Had he pushed Roman away from him? By being upset about not knowing his birthday? He bit his lip, running a hand through his hair. He guessed he was being irrational and annoying but he kinda hoped that Roman was still around the school. He hadn’t meant to make Roman upset.

He heard no sounds from the auditorium, a sign that Roman wasn’t in there. When Roman was upset, he sang to process things. At least that’s what Virgil had noticed throughout the course of their high school years. So no sound meant that Roman was probably not in here. He opened the door, his thoughts confirmed his visuals. He slumped against the door frame. Roman has most definitely ditched school. The dread blossoming in his gut bloomed into a worry that he wasn’t sure was warranted but he wasn’t not warranted.

He sighed, turning away from the empty stage, walking away and towards the empty hallways. He had classes to attend.

The day flew by in a whirl, and Virgil got more than a few odd looks from people as he moped. He was having some intense cramps, and all he wanted was for Roman to be holding him. But Roman wasn’t exactly there at the moment, having ran away earlier. So now he was alone- no one was talking to him, because Kylee was busy preparing the ideas for the spring play, Abby was busy with something, and Simon was just spending time with Bram- and in pain, and he just wanted his boyfriend.

But he guessed that this was how the game was played, he thought, walking out the doors and too the elementary school. He nodded at the secretary, heading down the hall too his dads classroom. He knocked on the open door, “Hey Dad."

Luna ran up to him, giggling, “Virgey! Virgey!”

“Hey! Hi!” Tia was running close to her twin, “Hi! Hey!”

He grinned at the twins, “Hello! How are you two princesses?”

Tia giggled, “Good! We have-“

“We have a plan!” Luna interrupted her twin, talking fast with her hands.

Tia laughed harder, “We have a plan!”

“So what is this plan of yours?” Virgil grinned, leading them back into the classroom, waving to his dad who was writing a night.

“It’s a plan to take down the Dragon Witch!” Tia giggled, wheezing a bit.

Luna echoed her, “To take down the Dragon Witch!”

His dad stood up, clearing his throat, “Now, now, girls! Annalise is really nice!”

“Maybe! But she’s still a Dragon Witch!” Tia grinned at her teacher.

Patton smiled at the little girl, “Well, we’ll have to see what the Prince has to say about your plan. So come on, let’s go ahead and play outside for a bit while we wait for your brother.”

Luna nodded, and Tia ran ahead, calling her twin into a game of Tag. Patton sighed, a soft smile on his face, “Remember when you were cute like that?”

“I take offense to that,” Virgil said, “I’ve never been cute.”

“Oh hush it,” Patton waved off his sons degrading remarks, “You were the cutest little boy.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

“So,” His Dad said, not so subtly drawing out the O as he walked down the school hallway, “How’s the boyfriend?”

Virgil went quiet. Roman had been on his mind all day, and he still didn’t know how to tell his father that the two of them were fighting. Well. That the two of them had fought. So he sighed, “We got into an argument this morning.”

“Oh. What about?” His dad furrowed his brows, looking at his son in concern. He kind of hoped it wasn’t anything serious. Ever since Roman and Virgil has started dating there was a kind of relaxed happiness that he didn’t usually see in his anxious son. It had been nice. He could only hope the fight wasn’t too bad as he and his son walked past the elementary school doors, heading to the playground where Tia and Luna were already swinging.

Virgil sighed again, “He didn’t tell me it was his birthday today.”

“Wait, really?”

“Well,” Virgil ran a hand through his hair, “It’s a lot more of a… I don’t know why. I just. I got frustrated, because the idea that maybe he didn’t want me to know that it was his birthday crossed my mind. Like maybe he thought I wouldn’t care? And I just got so angry about it- I snapped at him you know? And he snapped back and stormed off and he hasn’t been back to school since, and I just… I know it has something to do with me.”

Patton was silent for a moment his eyes thoughtful, “Well, kiddo, I don’t know what to tell you. Did Roman say why he didn’t want to tell you?”

“He said it was because he didn’t like his birthday very much,” Virgil mumbled.

“Okay so,” Patton spoke softly, “You know that him not wanting to tell you his birthday has nothing to do with you-”

“Yeah, but it still hurt,” Virgil interrupted his dad, “Knowing that he didn’t want me to know.”

Patton put a hand on his sons shoulder, “Virgil, don’t interrupt me kiddo. You know that Roman has his reasons for not liking his birthday. It's probably the same reasons that he didn’t want to tell you, so that you didn’t celebrate it with him. He may have some really deep meanings to it, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess, I just-” Virgil stopped himself, “I just don’t get it.”

“Sometimes kiddo, there's really nothing to get,” His dad patted his back, “But I can tell you this- that boy is head over heels for you.”

Virgil was quiet for a moment. He hadn’t been letting himself think it all day, but as he sat here, watching over the twins and talking to his dad the thought entered his mind. He took a shaky breath, “Do you think he minds that I’m trans?"

Logically, he knew that Roman couldn’t care less. In fact, when the rest of the school had caught up to the fact that Virgil had been born a girl- even if he had been in binders for a majority of his teen years and on T since he was 12 and barely had any chest. He was a guy, through and through. Unfortunately, at that point he was still getting periods every once and awhile, and one day he had gotten one in the middle of class. It had been awful.   


But out of everyone, Roman was the one that hadn’t changed a bit on how he treated Virgil. Well. That wasn’t the truth, but it wasn't a lie. They still had a tentative banter that was delicate and strange and weird, but suddenly Roman was helping him through panic attacks in the hallway, and beating up the kids that made fun of him for being trans. It was strange. But it was more than welcome.

He looked at his father, who was looking at Virgil with sad eyes, “Virgil, you know he doesn’t-”

“But what if he does?”

That was the question he had been asking himself since this morning. What if he did mind and he was just now realizing it? What if-

A loud shriek cut him off from his thought, his head racing towards the entrance of the elementary school gates, a girl standing their. He quickly recognized her- despite the new bruises, and the forming bruises. The girl he had been talking too who was in an abusive home. He heard his Dad gasp beside him, shouting out, “Annalise!”

Annalise bolted towards them, tears in her face. The twins stopped playing, noticing their older sister’s arrival, and her distress. She was out of breath, and she looked to be choking on air. She was shaking hard, and the twins pulled into her, and she was muttering something, but neither Virgil or his dad could make it out, as she cried into her baby sisters hair, their small arms wrapped around her like a grounding force. Barley a second had passed before Annalise looked up at them, begging look on her face, “Please- Call the police- he’s got a gun! He’s got a gun and he’s got Roman!”

Virgil felt a chill run down his spin, his eyes widening. This girl- Annalise Princeton-  had talked about how her dad was an abusive drunk and her older brother was her saving grace. He knew what had happened. Roman’s father was going to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. As always, correct me on any mistake I made, and you can hit me up @ royalroman on tumblr!!


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Lock every single door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman didn’t fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very not happy with this chapter but I’ve been so swamped that I’m just happy that I finally get to write something. I’m so happy I get a moment to write something. 
> 
> This was rushed, but I kind of wanted it to come off as rushed to be honest. Roman has some pretty important moments in this short chapter. The next chapter will be longer I promise!!
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS.  
> -Abuse  
> -Physical Abuse  
> -Mentions of Acholism  
> -Gun

Roman didn’t fight. After Annalise got out he didn’t see the reason to struggle against his father. He didn’t see a reason to fight against the inevitable death that came. His father was ranting about something, something that Roman didn’t care about. He was waving the gun wildly, a look of rage, or pure unbridled hatred. His father’s foot dug into his shoulder, and he could here his dad screaming at him. He stared up at the ceiling. All he could think about was his sisters. Would they be okay without him? Would they be sad he was gone? Would the twins remember him when they grew up? 

Would they be okay? Without him, would they be okay? Would they be able to survive in the world against the world and among themselves? He knew that Tia would protect Luna and Luna would protect Tia. The twins would always have each other’s back no matter what happened. He knew that Annalise would do anything for the twins. She wouldn’t let them be separated from her, and Roman was so so relieved at that. It meant that when he was dead and gone they would be okay. More okay than he knew how to make them. But a part of him doubted it. Would they be okay in a world without him?

Of course they would. They had Annalise, and Annalise was stronger than anything in the world, no matter what happened. No matter what happened. Because a part of Roman knew he wouldn’t make it out of this unscather. That he wouldn’t leave this without leaving for good. And for some reason he was okay with that. He was okay with the way that he was going to die. He had done his job, had protected his baby sisters, had gotten them out. Once he was dead he had no doubts that his father would be jailed.

Then they would never have to deal with it again. Never have to deal with the bloody fighting. The constant drinking. The yelling that overtook the night. The way liquor smelt on people’s breath. The way blood felt when a cut from a fist against their skin. They would never go through that again. And Roman was content to die if it meant that they would never face the cruel hands of their father again. There was no way in hell their father would walk free if he killed Roman. And he was okay with that. As long as they were safe. 

A part of him was screaming. Jolting. Fighting. Demanding that he get up, that he stand up and not give in to this. Into the flash of a gun his father was waving around frantically. But he was tired. He was so tired. He was tired of living in a world where all he had to do was protect. Where he couldn’t protect those who need it most. He was tired. And he was at peace with this. He would die, but his sisters would be okay, and it would be okay. It would be okay. 

He stopped. For a moment he stopped breathing as violet hair and a smile entered his mind and he realized he was being crazy. 

He had to fight back. There was no way he could just leave his sisters alone in the world. There was no way that he could leave Virgil. Not like this. So he stood up, dizzy on his feet, but charging anyway. He couldn’t imagine how he looked, he could only see how Virgil had looked at him when he had spun him around, dancing with him under the light in the school parking lot. He couldn’t feel his hits land, he could only see how Virgil had knelt down in front of Luna and Tia and treated them like princesses. He couldn’t fathom his father’s blows, he could only imagine how Virgil looked in his jacket. He couldn’t focus on what was happening, he could only focus on Virgil. On his boyfriend. 

Maybe his job protecting his baby sisters had fell through, but how could he give up when he had so much to live for? How could he throw all of that away, give all of that to the gates of heaven when he needed it? He grinned, despite the pain flaring as he thought of a future where Virgil was carding his fingers through Roman’s hair as Roman painted Luna’s nails, Tia on the other side braiding her hair. Annalise was bantering with Virgil, showing a softer side she saved for family. The image made him feel so so happy. 

He let go of his father for a moment, taking in his dad. The man wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth fighting, just to live when he had so much more waiting on the other side of the door. He limped away from his dad, calm and okay. He was going to get out of here, and he was going to find a way to help his family and survive. For a second he glanced back, “I’m sorry.”

His father growled at him but Roman stood tall. He wasn’t going to go back on himself. He had no connection to this man, not really. He wasn’t his family. He was nothing to Roman, and that was okay. He spoke again, “I’m sorry that you don’t have any love in your heart.” 

“I’m sorry,” Roman looked down, studying the floor. A picture of his mom holding baby Annalise was shattered there. He sighed, “I’m sorry that you were so vile that you couldn’t stop breaking people after she died.” 

And Roman picked up the photo of his mom, still speaking coldly to his father, “She was amazing. But you never were. You fell apart when you were supposed to protect us. You know what?” 

His grip on the photo tightened, “I’m not sorry for all the times that you came home drunk and I left you outside because I wasn’t about to show that to Tia and Luna. I’m not sorry for all the times I punched back when you hit one of the girls. I’m not sorry for being gay. I’m not sorry for being here for everyone. I’m not sorry for making mom proud.” 

“Goodbye dad,” His voice was quite. He dropped the photo of their mom, “Goodbye mom.” 

Suddenly a searing pain ripped through his shoulder, and then another in his gut and he was down. He was down and bleeding and his arm felt like it was on fire. Everything was onfire, and his vision was blurring. His dad was down though, that much he could tell, laughing maniacally. He wanted to scream, but it hurt. Everything hurt. His arm burned. His chest weighed down on himself.

He thought he heard the door open behind him. The next thing he saw was purple. His eyes felt heavy, but he was thinking of Virgil and his purple hair. He loved his purple hair. He closed his eyes, glad he was seeing purple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope you liked it!!  
> As always, correct me if I made a mistake and it me up @ Royalroman on tumblr!


	19. Chapter Eighteen: For us to Finally Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only thing that was keeping Virgil sane was the steady beat of the machine measuring Roman’s heart rate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear god I really really dislike this, but I put off studying from my AP world History exam for it so like??? I hope its at least good to the people who are reading it. I really really hope you guys like it, and I wanna know what you guys think. I'm sorry for not updating sooner, if I thought I was busy before I'm literally dying right now. I have a test in every class and I am not prepared for it in any way shape or form. Please send help. 
> 
> Also, we get a little about Patton's and Logan's back story! Things that may or may not be elaborated on in the future OwO!  
> Keep an eye out for the epilogue, because even though this is the end, I want to do a short epilogue to give them a completely happy ending!!
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS:  
> Mentioned abuse  
> mentioned emotional abuse  
> mentioned physical abuse

The only thing that was keeping Virgil sane was the steady beat of the machine measuring Roman’s heart rate. The soft beeps came in intervals, as Roman slept. By the time that the Ambulance had gotten there, Roman was nearing death. He had lost a lot of blood, enough to the point where Virgil has been so genuinely so scared that he was going to die. Two bullets had entered his body. One was a clean shot through the shoulder, the other a little more difficult. 

They were lucky. The bullet hadn’t shattered meaning that he only had to have the bullet removed, not a full blown surgery in order to get any stray shards out. Neither of the bullets had shattered any bone, both going through muscle and flesh but no bone. That was probably their saving grace if they were honest. Virgil didn’t want to think about what would have happened if the bullet had shattered bone. He was still shaking, his shirt still covered in Roman’s blood.

The gray clouds seemed to have darkened within the time that they had been in the hospital. It had been maybe six hours since they had found him, the time being around nine forty five. It didn’t feel real. Roman hadn’t woken up since they brought him in, but he was still breathing. His tan skin was pale and clammy and it terrified Virgil. He had never seen Roman so pale. So fragile. He logically understood what had happened, but it wasn’t registering. He didn’t want to think about how he had ran into the room seeing Roman on the ground bleeding out, his eyes unfocused and a small grin on his lips. He had muttered the word purple, had reached up and touched Virgil’s hair. 

At least his father had been down by then- probably falling after his drunken rage had forced him to slip and get knocked out- and when the police had arrived they had immediately taken him under custody. Annalise was still giving her statement to the police, recounting everything she could from her mom's death to her dad's alcoholism to Romans protection of her and her sisters. Logan is standing near her, offering support and kindness where he could. He could tell that his Pa was trying his hardest to keep it together for everyone. Something in his eyes alerted Virgil to the fact that his father was stewing on something. He honestly didn’t care. He couldn’t bring it in himself to care about anything other than the fact that Roman was lying on the bed of a hospital room, two holes in his shoulder and stomach. 

Luna and Tia were asleep on his Dad, sitting on his lap sleeping as they held each other's hands. His dad was staring at his Pa across the hall, a haunted look on his face. He looks like he is trying his hardest to not cry, but he was failing. Virgil knew that he didn’t look any better. He clutched Roman’s hand, holding it to his mouth, kissing his knuckles. 

He didn’t know how to deal with this. 

Him and Roman had a rocky beginning. Rough and tough and rocky. But he loved him. And he knew that he had loved him for a long time. Probably the first time that he had realized that Roman was a good guy. When Roman had decked Marcus Fly for mocking Virgil for being trans, he had realized that Roman wasn’t that bad of a guy. The way he had treated him exactly the same, no matter what, just proved to him how much of a good person Roman was. And he could handle their bickering and awfulness and horribleness, because at the end of the day all of that was just a show. At the end of the day it was always Roman who helped him out. 

He didn’t have any friends. He really didn’t. Every day he would eat lunch behind the school or in his Pa’s classroom, and he avoided talking to anyone if he could. But Roman was always quick to talk to him, to bicker with him, to argue with them. And he kinda felt like it was friendship. To be honest he knew he fell in love right then and there. The day he realized all of this. And despite how guarded he was, how he constantly made fun of and teased Roman, he genuinely wanted to know him. And he did. 

He did know Roman. The second they started talking they didn’t stop talking, and it was beautiful. It was a lot, it was so much, but it was good. They talked about everything. About his mother, about his sisters. About what he wanted to do in the future, about everything. They talked about Virgil’s dads and what Virgil thought of everything and anything. They knew each other. But did he? Did he know Roman? He missed all of the signs. He missed the fact that his boyfriend- his best friend- was being abused by his father. He missed a huge detail and now, Roman was in the hospital bed lying with two bullet wounds. 

He brought Roman’s hand up to his mouth, gently kissing his hand. He wanted to cry. He was pretty sure that he was already crying. He studied Roman on the bed, forcing himself to look away when the door opened. Annalise walked in the room, his Pa walking right behind her. His dad looked up, gently placing the twins off his lap and onto the chair next to him, softly grabbing his Pa’s hand and walking out of the rooms, talking softly. Annalise slid a chair next to Virgil. 

“He loves you, you know.” Her voice was quiet. Her eyes were heavy and her face was shadowed in the low lighting of the room. 

Virgil glanced at her then back at Roman, “I love him. I don’t know if he knows it.” 

“He does.” 

A silent moment passes by the room. Annalise let out a shuddering sigh, her entire body folding in on itself as she curled her knees to her chest, “I wish he was okay.” 

“He will be,” Virgil looked at her, shrugging off Roman’s jacket- no matter how much he doesn’t want to- and placed it around Annalise’s shoulders, hoping to give her some kind of comfort from the action, “He’ll be okay.” 

Her voice cracked, as she leaned onto his shoulder, “I- I hope so. I- he’s my hero.”

Virgil wraps an arm around her, holding her two him as she spoke, “He’s always been my hero my entire life, and he’s always protected me. Even when mom was around, he used to beat up kids who were mean to me. And he was just my hero. A big brother that was amazingly kind and stupid and dumb and brave. He used to make fun of me, but then go off on anyone else. And then when my mom died, he just stepped up. Against my dad. Against anyone who bullied me in school. Against everybody.” 

“He’s my hero.” Her voice went quiet, “He told me to run. He told me to run, and I just did. I just ran and he got shot.” 

“He was trying to make sure you didn’t get shot,” Virgil spoke softly, “He was trying to protect you. You’re the most important thing in his life, and he wanted so badly to protect you.” 

“I wish he didn’t have to.” 

The room stayed quiet except for Annalise’s soft breathing. Virgil clutched both Princeton kids closer to him, hoping that he could be strong for them. For everyone. 

The door opened, soft white light entering the room. He glanced backwards, watching as his dads entered the room.

They shuffled from behind him to the other side, their hands gripped tight onto each others. His dad spoked first, his Pa looking down at Roman’s medicated form with small tears welling in his eyes, “Anna?” 

She jerked towards them, but didn’t respond verbally.

“So,” Patton continued, “There are a few things that are gonna happen now, and we just- we want to be here for you and your siblings, okay? We’re not gonna go anywhere.” 

“Thank you.” Her voice was quiet, but her eyes told them how grateful that she was, “I don’t- I don’t know where we’re gonna stay.”

“You’ll stay with us,” Logan spoke, “If you want to, you all can stay with us.” 

Annalise glance up at the pair, a hopeful look in her eyes. His dad bit his lip, “However, you have to understand that there are other that want to help. Do you know a Lance Sanchez?”

“Uncle Lance?” her voice whispered, “He’s my mom's younger brother. I haven't seen him since the funeral.” 

Patton nodded, “The police contacted him- he’s your last remaining adult relative in the states. He’s on his way here now, but-” 

“We would like to offer our own house,” Logan interrupted, “Just incase you don’t feel safe around him, or anywhere else, we want to make sure you know that you can stay with us.” 

Annalise bit her lip, “I- I don’t know. I haven't seen uncle Lance in nine or ten years. He had just turned eighteen when I saw him last- I don’t, I don’t really know him.”

“Its okay, you don’t need an answer yet. Just know that our house is always open okay?” 

She nodded as a nurse knocked on the door, softly telling everyone in the room that visiting hours were over and that she needed to check on Roman’s vitals. 

They all left hesitantly, Virgil’s dads each carrying one of the sleeping twins, while Virgil held Annalise’s hands as they made their way out of the hospital room. The drive was quiet, and by the time that they got home it was eleven. The twins were put to rest in Virgil’s room, Annalise opting to go outside in the back, Logan following along with her. 

His dad gently shut Virgil’s bedroom door, turning to his son, “Are you alright?” 

“No,” He said softly, “I’m really really not.” 

His father grabbed his hand, bringing him across the hallway and into his parents bedroom, “Do you want to hear a story?” 

“Why not.” 

He sat Virgil down on the bed, “When I was seventeen I moved to Florida. It was a change of pace from my California home town, and my parents thought it was necessary. We had just lost your uncle- Demetri. I don’t really like to talk about what happened, but I had decided that I would become a better person, that I would live life for him. By the time my senior year of high school started, I was still me but I chose to be kinder, to be nicer, to be what my brother had seen me as. And one day, I’m walking to class with a bunch of people, and we run into this guy who had been studying- and I fell, and he fell, and the book landed on top of us. And it was love at first sight for me.” 

“Your father,” his voice was warm, recalling the first time that he and Logan had met, “Was not as charmed with me as I was with him. He swore at me at first, and that was the moment that I realized that we were meant for each other. And I pestered him, and pestered him, and eventually we built up a friendship and I fell more and more in love with him every passing moment. And eventually he fell in love with me too. And… it was nice. Until I started noticing things.” 

Patton glanced towards Virgil, “Logan never had bruises. But he had a horrible sense of self worth. He thought of himself lower than dirt. One day he got a ninety eight on a test and he freaked out. He had a panic attack, and a bad one too. He kept muttering how useless and stupid and worthless he was, and how his parents were going to hate him. I didn’t get what that meant at the time. But later on I did. These things kept happening, and kept happening, and kept happening, and suddenly I saw how his parents treated him. Maybe they didn’t hit him, but they ignored him most of the time. They preferred their own lives. Maybe they didn’t hit him, but they constantly told him how useless he was the second he did anything that they didn’t approve of. They hated him. And I saw that.” 

“It hurt,” His dad took a big breath, “It hurt to watch the man I loved be hurt. It really did. And he never believed me when I said it was abuse, when I said that what they were doing was wrong on so many levels. He just refused to see that it was abuse, refused to see that it was something so bad that it was destroying him from the inside out. It only stopped after he got out of there.” 

He cleared his throat, “What I’m trying to say here, Virgil, is that sometimes, we see the people we love in horrible awful situations and we either don’t know that they’re happening, or we can’t help them. And all we can do about it is be there for them.” 

Virgil let out a sob, shaking his body, “Dad I’m so scared for him.” 

“I know.” His father took him in his arms, “I know. You have to be there for him."

And they stayed like that, wrapped in each others arms and crying for their respective lovers for a while, until Virgil cried himself to sleep. 

Patton gently unwrapped his arms from his son, placing him under the covers of the bed. He pressed a kiss to his forehead and went downstairs, putting on a kettle of water. He glanced outside where his husband was still talking to Annalise. This could be good for the both of them. If what Annalise said when she was talking to the police officer was true, then it looked like her father only hit her when she got in the way of him hitting the twins, and mostly stuck to verbally harassing her. In a way, he knew that Logan would be able to help more than anyone else in dealing with that, with the feeling of worthlessness that came from that. There situations may be different, but Patton could feel it in his gut. They would help each other. He went out on a limb making two mugs of mint tea, and silently placing it in between the two. The both thanked him quietly and went back to talking.

Things would be okay. Things would be better in the morning.

 

The day was nice. It was warmer than it had been, and snow coated the ground making it a perfect day to play outside. It was beautiful. The twins were confused on what was actually happening and why they weren’t going to school, but enjoyed the day off nonetheless. The car ride to the hospital was filled with their loud chatter and dumb jokes. Annalise looked tired from the sleepless night but happy at her younger siblings. Virgil was chatting with her softly, something about a show they both watched. Patton was holding Logan’s hand as he drove. 

It was quiet when they walked into the brightly lit hospital. The twins were holding onto Annalise and laughing wildly, but everyone around the hospital just smiled at the little girls who seemed not to know what was going on. Annalise herself looked at them warmly, but every time she looked away a small look of fear flashed in her eyes. She didn’t know what was going to happen and at some point, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know. Virgil was just the same, anxiously running his hands through his hair, pushing it away and out of his face as they check in, approaching the hospital room. The long hallways made everyone in the group nervous, hoping that when they reached the room, Roman would be up. 

Only a few people were aloud inside, but Annalise didn’t want to go in without the twins. Ao Virgil went in first, making sure that Annalise was really okay with it. She nodded, holding onto Tia and Luna tighter. 

He stepped into the room, grinning madly as his boyfriend turned to him, “Oh my god, you’re okay.”

“Not even,” Roman grinned, as Virgil went closer to him, “But you know what?” 

Virgil grabbed his hand, sitting down next to him, “What?” 

“I love you.” His voice was soft, “I love you, so, so, much.” 

Virgil chuckled tears in his eyes, “God I love you too, I love you too.” 

Roman brought a hand to his cheek, gently brushing away any tears, a smile embedded on his face as he looked at his boyfriend, “I think I’m going to be okay Virgil.” 

“One day.” 

“One day.”

Annalise and the twins entered the room, despite the limit of people aloud in the room being broken, and they rushed to their brothers side. Laughter soon filled the room and Tia and Luna spun a huge tail about how much of a hero Virgil was and how Roman clearly was the prince that Virgil was a knight to, and how they were clearly going to get married- as long as the evil dragon witch didn’t stop them! The entire thing felt surreal. 

It wasn’t perfect. Sooner than later the cops came to get Roman’s statement. While they already had enough information to put Roman Sr. away, they wanted to be sure that he would be put away for the maximum sentence. And they had to worry about where all of them would go- it was between staying with the Sanders, or going with their Uncle Lance, and none of them really knew what to expect- and who would be their legal guardians. It wasn’t perfect at all. But as Annalise took the twins outside again, in order to feed both of them Roman cleared his throat. 

Virgil turned to him, and he spoke a small smile on his face, “This doesn’t feel real.” 

“I know,” Virgil said, “But it is. You’re safe.” 

“I’m with you, of course I’m safe,” Roman responded bringing a hand to Virgil’s face, pulling him down for a light kiss, “I love you, Virgil Sanders.” 

“I love you too.” 

“I love you more.” 

“Sounds fake, but thanks.”

Roman snorted, grinning. 

He wasn’t okay, and he wasn’t going to be okay for awhile. But that was okay, because he was going to be okay. He was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please correct me on any mistakes, and I really hope you guys like it!!

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what y’all think! Hit me up on tumblr @ Lovelylangst if you want!


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